


Quite the Catch

by Muncaster



Category: The Fosters (TV 2013)
Genre: Baseball, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-05
Updated: 2015-10-05
Packaged: 2018-04-25 01:30:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 33,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4941475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Muncaster/pseuds/Muncaster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Connor finds himself back in San Diego playing in the major leagues.  It’s been about a decade, but when he sees Jude again, old feelings come back. Jude/Connor, Daria/Taylor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

It had been hard saying goodbye to the LA sunshine, but Connor Stevens found himself packing up the last of his things into a rented U-Haul, ready to move back to his hometown of San Diego. He was going to miss the local haunts, the familiar faces that LA offered, but he didn’t have much choice in the matter. He had just been traded from the LA Angels to the San Diego Padres, and although he originally wanted to pitch a fit, he was genuinely happy to still be playing in the baseball major leagues. It wasn’t as though he was a bad player; in fact, the LA Times sports critic called him the ‘best catcher to ever grace the baseball diamond in decades’.  
It had taken him a long time and a lot of sacrifices to get to where he was. Baseball became his life in high school in LA, and he was given a full scholarship to play for a Division One university. He loved his job more than almost anything else, but the huge downfall of it was that he found himself unable to make his sexuality public. He had known he was gay ever since he had the fortune of meeting one Jude Adams Foster, and even after he moved to LA in eighth grade and left Jude behind, there had been numerous relationships he held with other guys. When he started in the major leagues, he found himself going out less and less out of fear that he would get caught, so he hadn’t had a serious boyfriend since he graduated from college. And if he were completely honest with himself, his first boyfriend was by far his favorite.  
It had been more than a decade since he had seen Jude, but Connor wondered if how he was holding up every so often. When Connor first moved to LA, they vowed to call each other every day, to make an effort to stay together. However, the calls became less and less frequent, the connection between them getting smaller and smaller, and when Connor’s good friend Daria called him one day and mentioned how one of their guy classmates had expressed an interest in Jude, Connor figured he should let Jude go so that they both could move on with their lives. It was painful, but necessary.  
Connor sighed and closed the back of the U-Haul. In two hours, he found himself parking in front of an apartment building, and getting out of the truck to greet the smiling woman standing on the sidewalk. He gave her a hug, and she smiled widely at him.  
“Connor Stevens,” she said. “It has been too long since I have actually seen you in person.”  
“Hey Daria,” he replied, smiling. “The Skype chats weren’t enough?”  
“Never. I’ve missed you.”  
“I’ve missed you, too.” Connor gave Daria another hug, and she returned it before opening up the U-Haul.  
“Jesus, Connor, I don’t know if all of this will fit into the apartment,” she exclaimed.  
“It’ll fit,” Connor stubbornly said.  
Daria glared at him. “If you try to get rid of any of my stuff, I’ll get rid of you.”  
Connor laughed, happy to talk to his friend in person for once. Daria and Connor had been timid with each other during the very beginning of their friendship, but as soon as she found out Connor was gay, she had been quick to stop being weird around him. She stayed in San Diego after high school, working as a secretary at an elementary school, and when Connor found out he had to move back to San Diego she suggested that he move in with her. Connor knew it was most likely because she hadn’t been making a lot of money at her job and her roommate had just moved across the country, but he was delighted anyways.  
“Are you going to help me?” Daria’s yell jolted Connor out of his thoughts, and he joined her in the back of the U-Haul, carrying his things into the apartment he would now call home.

-!-!-!-!-!-

“Everybody, meet Connor Stevens,” the coach of the team, Daniel Fletching, announced. “Connor Stevens, meet everybody.”  
Connor weakly waved hello to everyone in the locker room, excited to start practice and break the ice with his new teammates. A few of the guys waved back at him, but most of them weren’t paying attention to the introduction, instead talking amongst themselves. Connor didn’t mind. It was only his first day, after all.  
The team had been practicing for about an hour when a water break was called. Connor was grateful, but on his way to hydrate himself, one of his new teammates came up to him.  
“Stevens, right?” he asked. Connor nodded. The man held out his hand, and as Connor shook it, he introduced himself. “My name’s Reggie Peterson. I’m a third baseman.”  
The name ringed a bell in Connor’s head, and he nodded in response to Reggie. “Peterson, didn’t you play for the Orioles awhile ago?”  
Reggie smiled and nodded. “Sure did. I played against you a few times, if I remember correctly.”  
Connor politely nodded back, but then Fletching called the men back into practice. Connor quickly swiped a drink of water before heading back to the pitcher’s mound, where everyone was meeting. Before he got there, Reggie tapped on his arm, and Connor turned around to face him.  
“After games, a few of us guys like to get together for a drink or two,” he said. “You’re more than welcome to join us, if you’d like.”  
Connor smiled, before replying, “Yeah, I’d love to. Thanks for the invite.”  
Reggie smiled back before giving his attention to Fletching. Connor wiped his face of his smile as he tried to look serious, but on the inside he was ecstatic, grateful to have found a friend on the team.

-!-!-!-!-!-

Connor couldn’t believe it, but his first game was over, and they had won. Daria had assured him earlier in the day that he would do great, but his nerves wouldn’t calm down until the game finally started and the dynamic he had been building up slowly with the team finally shined through to the public. He changed quickly in the locker room, checking his phone for a second before he put on his jacket. He had two text messages, one from Daria, and one from his father. He opened up Daria’s first.  
Just heard about your win on the radio!! Way to go, buddy!! Next time you have a game in town, expect to see an obnoxious fan holding up a cardboard cutout of your face (that fan being me, of course). xoxo Daria  
Connor smiled. Daria hadn’t been able to make it to his first game because she had a doctor’s appointment, but he assumed on the drive back to their place she had turned on the radio to listen to the game’s outcome. He was thankful that he had a best friend like her; a best friend that truly cared about him, despite all of his prior mistakes in their relationship.  
Hesitating for a second, Connor opened up the second message.  
Congrats on the win. For your first game, you did well. Keep on practicing.  
For his father, the text wasn’t nearly as harsh as it could’ve been. Connor had a huge grin on his face. He put on his jacket, grabbed his bag, and was about to leave before Reggie called out to him.  
“Stevens, you coming to the bar?”  
Connor had almost forgotten about going out after games. “Oh, yeah, of course,” he called back, before heading over to where Reggie and a few of the guys were huddled together.  
“Where are we going, exactly?” Connor asked, hoping to make conversation.  
“DeAngelo’s,” Reggie replied. “Best bar in town. Super hot chicks every night, and most of them are single and looking for a hook-up.” The rest of the guys laughed, and Connor forced a smile.  
“Sounds good,” he said. “Let’s go.”  
It took them about half an hour to get to DeAngelo’s. When they arrived, Reggie dragged Connor to the bar and ordered two beers. Together, they drank, Reggie more so than Connor, and Connor found himself to be quite entertained with Reggie’s attempts at being a wingman for Connor.  
“Look here ladies, this guy’s quite the catch,” he exclaimed, laughing at his own joke. “Get it, Stevens? Catch? Because you’re a catcher?”  
Connor couldn’t help but smile. “I think you need to lay off of the beers, Peterson. I never pegged you for a lightweight.”  
“It’s just been awhile,” he replied. “Okay, so I’ve been trying to get you some for awhile, but you haven’t been responding so great, so now it’s your turn.”  
“My turn? For what?”  
“Land me a lady, Stevens.”  
Connor rolled his eyes, but decided to go with it, anyways. “For any ladies here, this man will gladly get you to third base.”  
Reggie burst out laughing. “Third base! Because I’m a--”  
“Third baseman, yeah, I know,” Connor said. His friend’s laughter was infectious, and to Connor’s delight, it seemed to attack a short woman who was laughing at Reggie’s laughter. Connor smiled at her, and she smiled back, although Connor knew her focus was on his new friend. Taking a chance, he walked up to her.  
“Hello there,” Connor said. Up close, she was so beautiful that even Connor noticed, even though he wasn’t interested. She had dark skin and a mass of black curls pulled up into a bun that seemed to be bigger than she was. “I couldn’t help but notice you noticing that man over there,” he said, pointing to Reggie, “and I was wondering if you’d like an introduction?”  
“I wouldn’t mind one,” she said, eyes still on Reggie. Connor brought her over to Reggie, introduced the two of them, and decided to give them their space.  
“Don’t mess this up,” he muttered into Reggie’s ear before leaving. He doubted Reggie was paying attention to him, but he felt like he should say something.  
Connor settled into a seat at the bar a little ways away, took off his jacket and asked for a glass of water, because he didn’t want to get drunk. The water came, and in his newfound solitude, Connor took a glance around the room he was in. DeAngelo’s was crowded, but he could see most of the place, from the people mingling on the floor to the people engaged in conversation at some of the tables in the back. His eyes wandered for awhile before coming to a jarring halt, taking in a picture that he couldn’t believe was real.  
There he was, Jude Adams Foster, smiling while talking with a woman sitting across from him.


	2. Chapter Two

Connor couldn’t believe his eyes. He had been staring at Jude for about two minutes, trying to pretend that it wasn’t his first boyfriend in DeAngelo’s with him, but there was no mistaking him. Connor felt his face burn, and he was grateful that Jude seemed to be so focused on the woman he was with, and didn’t notice Connor at all.   
Connor was at a loss for what to do. He couldn’t go up to Jude; not here, not with all of his teammates around him. Sure, Reggie was caught up with the woman Connor had introduced to him earlier, and the other guys also looked busy with women of their own, but he couldn’t risk anyone seeing him go up to Jude. That left him with one option: he had to leave. Immediately.  
Connor bolted out the door, relieved, again, that Jude hadn’t noticed him. He began to walk back to his apartment when he realized he had left his jacket at DeAngelo’s. A part of him didn’t want to go back for it, but since it was a custom Padres jacket made just for him, he felt as if he would regret leaving it behind. He walked back to the bar, entering as quickly as he could, and was on his way to his jacket and feeling pretty sly when he heard Reggie’s loud voice over everyone else’s commotion.  
“Stevens! Yoooo, Stevens, where’d you go?”  
Connor cringed. Reggie was loud. He could already feel people looking over at his friend, and then looking to see who his friend was looking at; unfortunately, Reggie was looking straight at Connor. Connor felt the stares on his back. He grabbed his jacket and walked quickly over to Reggie as he kept on loudly talking.  
“Stevens, man, look at this lady who gave me some of her time. Her name is Piper, and,” he said, voice dropping lower as Connor approached, “if I’m being completely honest, I’d love to pipe her.” He laughed at his own joke. Connor looked sympathetically at Piper, but she seemed to enjoy his sense of humor, which Connor couldn’t believe.   
Connor hastily said his goodbye to Reggie, but his friend didn’t want to see him go. “Stevens!” he yelled, not aware of his high volume level. “Connor Stevens, the night is too young for you to leave.”  
Connor cringed. His whole name had just been belted at the bar, for everyone to hear. Slowly, he turned his head to look at Jude, praying that by some miracle he hadn’t looked over to see why some drunk guy was screaming. He wasn’t that lucky.  
Jude was looking at him with shock written all over his face. They looked at each other and time seemed to stop, but then Reggie let out a huge burp and Connor was momentarily distracted, and when he turned back to look at Jude, Jude’s face was red and he was muttering something to the woman he was sitting with. Connor froze as the woman turned her head to look at him.  
Taylor.  
Connor hadn’t seen her in about a decade, either. But between her long, sandy hair and the look of permanent sass on her face, Connor knew she couldn’t be anyone else. Connor wanted to leave, wanted to run away from the awkward situation, but before he could do anything, Taylor opened her mouth and called out his name.  
“Connor!”  
Connor forced himself to move, albeit slowly, in her direction. He noticed that Jude seemed to suddenly be focused on the salt shaker on the table, fingers pushing it back and forth between his hands. As Connor neared, the motions became quicker and quicker.   
“Connor Stevens,” Taylor said as soon as he was within earshot. “The man, the myth, the legend.” Connor didn’t know what to do with himself. He settled for chuckling, actually chuckling, and it was awful and awkward and Taylor was giving him a devilish smile and Jude was still focused on the salt shaker.  
“So, why is the disappearing man back in town?” Taylor asked. Connor could only assume she was talking about him, so he responded.  
“I play baseball for the Padres now,” he said, but the words seemed thick in his mouth.   
“Oh, so you’re a daddy now, aren’t you,” she said, seemingly serious. Jude stopped moving around the salt shaker and glared at her. She spared him a glance and shrugged before turning back to Connor and smiling politely, watching the man crumble under her stare.  
Just when Connor thought he was going to be killed from the awkwardness, Taylor spoke again.  
“You know, it’s been so long since we’ve seen you, hasn’t it?”   
“It has, yeah,” Connor responded. He couldn’t help but remember that the last time he spoke to Jude, he had broken up with him. Seeing Jude’s face darken a bit, he felt that Jude had thought that, too.  
“Well listen, why don’t we catch up? Tomorrow night I’m free, we could meet up at my place and maybe have dinner?”  
Connor couldn’t help but notice how Jude kicked her under the table. It was obvious that Jude didn’t want Connor to notice, and the fact that he did notice hurt Connor a little bit. Jude was such an important person in Connor’s life; he was the boy who helped Connor accept himself for who he truly was. Seeing him react so negatively at the suggestion of a dinner together crushed a part of Connor that he didn’t know could be crushed.   
Suddenly Connor’s desire to leave intensified. He needed a way out, an excuse, anything, because he couldn’t stand being this close to Jude Adams Foster while feeling so unwelcome in his presence.   
“You know what, I have baseball practice tomorrow, and practices usually run late, so I don’t know if I can make any plans,” Connor claimed. Yes, he had practice. Yes, practices usually ran late. However, Connor knew for a fact that tomorrow’s practice would be cut short, because Coach Fletching’s daughter was turning seven. What Taylor and Jude didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them, Connor decided.   
“Plans don’t have to be made for tomorrow,” Taylor responded. “They can be made for any other day, too.”  
Connor had almost forgotten how stubborn Taylor could be. Jude seemed used to it, though, as he just rolled his eyes at his friend and went back to playing with the salt shaker.  
“I don’t really know my practice schedule ahead of time, so I don’t know if other days will work,” Connor said. He felt the end of his sentence slowly ebb to an end, hoping that Taylor would give up, but it was pretty obvious she wouldn’t.   
“That’s okay,” she replied. “Give me your phone number, I’ll call you sometime, set up a date.”  
Jude and Connor both froze at the word “date”. If Taylor noticed, she didn’t let on about it. She took her phone out of her pocket and looked expectantly at Connor, and after a few moments for him to recover, Connor recited his number to her.  
After Taylor put it into her phone, she decided to test call Connor, and he hadn’t pulled out his phone fast enough for them to avoid hearing his ringtone. He cringed. Taylor burst into laughter, and Jude cracked a small smile.  
“Connor Stevens, is that song the song I think it is?”  
“It’s upbeat,” Connor murmured, already mortified. He wasn’t sure he had wanted Jude to see this side of him, but it was too late.  
“You have--” Taylor had to pause, she was laughing so much-- “your ringtone is seriously the Spice Girls?”  
Connor felt very embarrassed, but it was too late. The very familiar lyrics had already infected the air around them.  
If you want to be my lover, you gotta get with my friends.  
Connor turned off his phone, but the damage was done. He was beginning to beat himself up for the mistake when he caught Jude’s eye.  
Jude was finally looking at him. And smiling.   
Suddenly, Connor wasn’t so embarrassed.   
“All right, Connor Spice, I’ll be sure to give you a call tomorrow or sometime. I mean, I wanna-- I wanna-- I wanna--”  
At first Connor thought Taylor was having some sort of spasm, but then he realized she was just imitating his ringtone. He shook his head in good spirits, surprised that he had been separated from his two old friends for so long, yet, at least with Taylor, conversation seemed to be coming naturally in a surprisingly quick amount of time.   
Taylor finished the song, and Jude politely clapped while Connor had a light yet genuine smile on his face. Taylor took a fake bow with the most serious expression on her face, and Connor’s smile grew bigger. She turned back to look at Connor, finally cracking and smiling back at him.   
“For real though, I’ll give you a call tomorrow.”  
“That sounds great,” Connor replied. He could feel the excitement slowly fade away from their conversation, so he figured he should make his exit. “Listen, it was great to see the two of you here, but I should probably get going.”  
“Then go, get out of here. See you sometime, Connor Spice,” Taylor said.  
Connor smiled again despite himself. “Bye, Taylor,” he said. After only a brief moment of hesitation, he decided to speak again. “Bye, Jude.”  
“Bye, Connor,” Jude replied.  
Jude had only spoken two words to him, but Connor was entranced by the huskiness in his voice. When he first left for LA, there was no way Jude’s voice had sounded like that. Connor didn’t even realize voices could sound so…. perfect.  
He waved goodbye to his two old friends before clutching tightly onto his jacket and walking away. On his way out, he could see that Reggie and the woman he was previously talking to, Piper, were engaged in a heavy make-out session, so Connor decided not to bother them with a goodbye. Which was for the best, Connor thought. Because he needed to sort out what he was going to do about his thoughts concerning one Jude Adams Foster.


	3. Chapter Three

“Stevens, where did you go after DeAngelo’s last night?” Reggie asked.  
Connor was quiet for a second, not sure how to respond, when Reggie decided to respond for him.   
“Awwww, did Stevens get some action, and feel the urge to go someplace private?”  
That was nowhere close to what had actually happened, so Connor let out a small laugh. “You know what, I didn’t. You, however, probably should have made that choice, Peterson.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“You and that Piper girl were pretty intense at the bar.”  
“If you thought that was intense, you should’ve seen us when I took her back to my place.”  
“Images I didn’t need, Peterson,” Connor replied, grimacing. As much as he was fond of his newer friend, sometimes he shared a little bit too much with Connor.   
“Actually though, Stevens, I don’t understand why you didn’t look for any action at the bar last night. You’ve got the body, you’ve got the big job, there’s literally no reason why any special lady would decline a one night stand with you.”  
I don’t want a one night stand with a lady because I’m gay, Connor wanted to say. Super gay, just the gayest, little old gay me right here, Gay Spice. That last thought made Connor smile, as it brought along the memory of seeing Taylor and Jude again. At Connor’s smile, Reggie sprouted a huge smile.  
“Oh, you got some last night!” he exclaimed.  
Connor was confused. “What?”  
“Don’t try to hide it from me,” Reggie said. “I see that smile. I get it, you don’t kiss and tell. Don’t worry. I won’t intrude.”  
“Peterson, I did not get any last night, I swear,” Connor tried, but Reggie’s grin wouldn’t leave his face.  
“All right, I completely believe you,” Reggie said, winking at Connor. “Completely, I promise.” He winked at Connor again.  
Connor wanted to correct him another time, but Fletching called the team in, and their conversation had to come to an end.  
-!-!-!-!-!-  
Fletching had dismissed the team at noon, going off to his daughter’s birthday celebration. Connor grabbed all of his things from the locker room, careful not to let his gaze linger on any of the guys for too long. He knew that his fear was getting to be a bit irrational at times, but at this point he couldn’t do anything to stop his need to hide his true self.   
As he walked out of the stadium, he was pleasantly surprised to see Daria. She was focused on her phone, but obviously waiting for him to get out.  
“Daria,” he called out. She snapped her head up and smiled at her best friend. Connor got closer to her and gave her a hug as a greeting. “What are you doing here?”  
“I didn’t get to see you last night, and you left before I woke up this morning,” she said. “I figured we needed to celebrate your big win last night!”  
Connor smiled. He was about to respond before he heard some of the guys come out of the stadium and yell out at him.  
“Look at Stevens, look at his lady friend!”  
“Why get something on the side when he can get something whenever he wants?”  
“Stevens has a lady, Stevens has a lady, Stevens--”  
“Cut it out, guys!” Connor felt himself yelling back. “This isn’t my lady.”  
“Sorry,” Daria called out. “But nope. Not going to happen, ever.”  
The guys let out a few more noises of what Connor thought to be playful disappointment, and in spite of everything, their jest hadn’t really bothered him. In fact, it made him feel happy. He was the newest addition to the team, and already his teammates were poking some fun at him.   
“So I was thinking,” Daria said, “we pick up a pizza and go back to the apartment, maybe pick up some sodas on the way home, too?”  
“That sounds perfect,” Connor replied.   
“Great, because I already ordered the pizza and we have to go pick it up,” she said. Connor laughed, but Daria punched him lightly. “I’m serious! We have to get it, like, now. Come on, you don’t have to walk home today, I brought my car. But I’m driving. Let’s go!”  
Two hours, five slices of pizza and a stomachache later, Connor and Daria had relaxed on their sofa in their living room, chatting with each other. Connor then remembered that Daria didn’t know that he had seen Jude and Taylor the other day, so he told her.  
“Jude and Taylor?” she exclaimed.   
Connor was a bit confused by her confusion. “Yeah, I saw them last night. Why are you suprised? You’ve lived here for forever, I thought you probably saw them every now and then.”  
“To be honest, I haven’t talked to either of them since they left for college,” Daria admitted. “I mean, Taylor stayed in the city, but once she made her college friends we sort of drifted apart.” Daria remained quiet, and Connor could only assume that she was thinking back to their time together as friends.  
After awhile, Connor’s curiosity got the best of him. “What about Jude?”  
Daria looked at him. “He went across the country for college, I guess he came back afterwards.” The two of them were silent for awhile, before Daria said, “I can’t believe how long it’s been since we’ve all seen each other.”  
Then Connor remembered what they had talked about the previous night. “Speaking about that, Taylor wanted to invite me over to dinner sometime, I’m sure she’d love to see you, too.”  
“Yeah, that’d be great,” Daria replied. “Be sure to ask for a plus one if she invites you.”  
“Will do.”  
“Connor, this has been fun, and I know it’s only two in the afternoon, but I’m feeling exhausted,” she said. “I think I’m going to head to bed for awhile.”  
Connor watched her get up off of the couch and nodded. “You do that, Daria.”  
As she walked into her room, she ruffled Connor’s hair. “Good job in the game yesterday, Connor. I’m proud of you.”  
He murmured a thank you as she shut the door.   
After Daria left, Connor wrapped up the remaining slice of pizza and put it into the fridge. He looked at the photographs on the fridge, all hung up there by Daria by the time Connor had moved in, and he couldn’t help but notice one from middle school. Jude and Connor were in the middle, holding hands, Jude’s face comfortably placed on Connor’s shoulder, and Taylor was giving Jude bunny ears while Daria was to the side, laughing. Connor ran his finger over the photo-- he had never seen it before, and that surprised him. What surprised him more, though, was the feeling of longing that took over him as he looked at Jude’s face.  
The familiar lure of the Spice Girls took him out of his trance, however, and he looked at his phone to see an unfamiliar number calling him. Frowning, he answered, hoping that it wasn’t a prank call-- Connor hated getting those. “Hello?” he asked.  
“Hey, Connor Spice.”  
Connor let out a breath of relief. It was just Taylor. “Hey, Taylor. What can I do for you?”  
“If I remember correctly, you owe Jude and I your company for an evening sometimes.”  
Connor couldn’t help but smile when he heard Jude’s name. “Indeed I do,” Connor said. Indeed I do? he thought. Can you sound anymore like a mushy teenager?  
“What are you doing next weekend?”  
Connor thought back to his game schedule, but he was pretty sure there wasn’t another game for a few more weeks. “Nothing yet,” Connor said, now certain he was free. “But I’m assuming that’s when you want me to come over?”  
“Oh, you got me,” Taylor replied. He could see her mocking expression through the telephone. “Let me tell you my address.”  
Connor got the address, and just as he was about to hang up, he remembered Daria.  
“Hey, Taylor?”  
“Yes, Connor Spice?”  
“Is it okay if a bring a plus one?”  
There was a pause in the conversation, and Connor felt its heaviness dripping through the telephone. “A plus one?” Taylor asked, obviously in a mixture of surprise and confusion. “Um, well I guess you can, if you really want to.”  
“Um, yeah, I do,” Connor replied. Now it was awkward. Beyond awkward. Connor didn’t know what to do, so he let Taylor figure it out, which she did, although it took a few seconds.  
“Well, Connor, I will see you and your plus one next weekend,” she said.  
“Sounds like a plan,” he replied. They said their goodbyes and then hung up their phones.   
He wanted to go talk to Daria about it, seeing as she was his best friend and he told just about everything to her, but she was asleep by now and Connor didn’t really want to deal with the mess that was Daria being woken up against her will. Sighing, Connor felt the weight of sleep start to drag him down, too, so he headed into his bedroom.  
Before sleep took him away, he couldn’t help but feel as if the next weekend was both too far and too close from the present.


	4. Chapter Four

“You must be Connor,” a man said. Connor looked at him, confused as to why he would be opening Taylor’s door for a dinner he had assumed would be between him, Taylor, Daria and Jude. “And you must be his plus one,” he continued, looking at Daria, who was standing right beside him. Connor remained confused as to who he was. The man seemed to sense this, because he introduced himself.  
“Nice to meet you, I’m Evan, Taylor’s roommate,” he said. Evan was taller than Connor, towering over both Connor and Daria in a way that should’ve been intimidating, if not for the polka dot bow tie Connor noticed he was wearing.   
“Nice to meet you Evan, I’m Daria,” Daria said, moving to shake his hand. Evan smiled at her, revealing unnaturally white teeth.   
“Here, let me let you guys in,” he said, moving out of the way. Daria took the first step inside, and Connor slowly followed her.   
“Who’s here?” he heard Taylor call from another room.  
“Connor and his plus one, Daria,” he called back.  
Connor heard a crash coming from the room Taylor was in. It sounded as if a pan had fallen to the floor, so Connor could only assume she was in the kitchen. However, she soon popped her head out of the room, and after confirming that Daria was truly in her apartment, she rushed over to her and gave her a hug.   
“Daria,” Taylor breathed. “I’ve missed you.”  
Connor smiled at their interaction, but froze a bit when he noticed Daria’s eyes had gotten a bit teary. He hoped for both of their sakes she wouldn’t collapse under the emotion, and luckily she didn’t. Pulling away, she quickly wiped her eyes, smiled brightly at Taylor, and said, “Me, too.”  
They started to catch up with one another, and it was painfully obvious that both Evan and Connor were left out of the conversation. Just when Connor was brainstorming how to break the ice, Evan spoke.  
“Do you want a tour of the place?”  
Connor nodded, grateful. Evan nodded back and started walking to where Taylor originally was.  
“So this is the kitchen,” he pointed out. He entered the room and Connor followed. “Today Taylor cooked, because knowing how bad I am at making something as simple as eggs, she decided that today she’d rather not whisk it.” Connor looked up and Evan was wagging a whisk in front of him. He cracked a smile.  
“Anyways, bathroom is through there,” he said, pointing to a door near the fridge. “We eat at a table in our living room, which is where you two came in. We’ve got two bedrooms through that little hallway over there,” he said, pointing at the corner of the kitchen where a small hallway was, “but I doubt you’d want to see them given that, as of now, they’re both horrible messes.”  
Connor laughed. “No problem, I don’t want to intrude anyways,” he said.  
“You’ll never intrude, don’t worry,” Evan said, obviously trying to make Connor feel comfortable. “After hearing Jude and Taylor talk about you for the past week, it’s become more and more obvious that you’re completely welcome in this apartment.”  
At the mention of Jude, Connor smiled. “You know Jude?”  
Evan looked at him funny before letting out a nervous laugh. “Yeah, you could say that.”  
Connor was about to ask about him more when Taylor called the two of them back into the living room.  
“Connor Spice, we need you to settle an argument for us,” she said, as the two entered the room.  
“Is this some sort of trap?”  
“No, because you’re going to agree with me,” Daria said, sending a smile to her roommate.   
Taylor let out a laugh. “Keep on thinking that, but I believe Connor likes honesty more than you,” she let out.  
“So what’s this argument you two need me to settle?”  
“Oh yeah,” Taylor remembered. “Whose house did we TP the night you got shot? Because I swear to god it was Brooklyn Kennedy’s, but Daria keeps on saying it was mine.”  
Connor thought back. In all honesty, the memory was a bit hazy, because he had been too excited to be spending time with Jude to pay attention to much else. But he responded anyways.  
“I don’t really remember whose house it was, but I definitely remember biking from the house we TP’ed to Taylor’s place, so it couldn’t have been hers.”  
“Are you serious?” Daria groaned, as Taylor sent her a look that clearly stated something along the lines of, look at me now.   
“Sorry, Daria,” Connor sheepishly said, glancing sympathetically at his best friend.  
“You better be,” she replied. “Now I have to have dinner with Taylor tomorrow as punishment.”  
“That’s rough,” Evan said from next to Connor. “Trust me, I have dinner with her almost every night, and it doesn’t really get easier as time goes by.”  
“Gee, thanks Evan,” Taylor responded. “I guess you can cook yourself dinner if you really want to avoid me all the time, can’t you?”  
“Nevermind.”  
“That’s what I thought,” Taylor said. She had a smile on her face and she looked over at Daria before getting more comfortable on her seat.   
“Hey, what would Taylor have had to do if I agreed with you?” Connor asked Daria.  
Daria looked up at Connor, hiding a small smile on her face. “She would’ve had to get dinner with me tomorrow.”  
Evan burst out laughing, and Connor raised his eyebrows at Daria. She rolled her eyes at him, but smiled when she looked over at Taylor. Connor shook his head at the antics of the two of them.  
Eventually Connor and Evan joined Taylor and Daria in sitting down, and conversation flowed easily between the four of them. Evan complained about how Taylor would never leave the apartment for a long amount of time, and made some jabs about how she hadn’t had a date in over a year, but Taylor was quick to roll her eyes and defend herself.  
“Like anyone here has been getting any,” she said.  
“I have!” Evan exclaimed.  
“Besides you and your loverboy,” she replied.  
“Loverboy?” Daria asked, curiously.  
“Don’t worry, he’ll be here eventually,” Taylor said. Great, now there will be another person he doesn’t know here when he finally sees Jude, Connor thought.  
“Anyways, back to my original point, seeing as how neither Daria nor Connor rushed to defend themselves, I don’t think either of them have been seeing anyone either.”  
Connor shook his head lightly, and Taylor pointed to him and looked at Evan, as if to say, see?! She looked at Daria next, waiting for her old friend to say that she hadn’t seen anyone either, but Daria just shrugged.  
“What was that?” Taylor asked. “Is there someone else in your life that we maybe should have also invited over?” Taylor said the words playfully, but from the way she stiffened, Connor could tell something was bothering her.  
“No, not now,” Daria said, and Taylor visibly relaxed a bit. “I was dating this guy pretty seriously awhile ago, but he broke up with me when he found out that I’ve dated girls seriously before.”  
“Wait, when did this happen?” Connor asked, confused. Daria had never mentioned something like this to him before.  
“A few months before you moved in? I didn’t want to bother you,” she added.  
“Daria, don’t even say that,” Connor said in the most genuine voice he could muster. “You’re actually never a bother to me, so if something crappy like that happens to you, you can let me know.”  
Daria nodded, and Taylor reached out to grab her hand. The two women smiled at each other before letting go.  
Suddenly, another knock on the door rang through the air.  
“Let me get that,” Evan said, rising from the chair he was sitting in. “It’s probably Jude.”  
Connor looked down at his hands and started to fumble with his thumbs.   
“So,” Taylor said, removing her hands from Daria. “How did you get to be Connor’s plus one?”  
Connor heard footsteps behind him. He heard a hushed conversation between Evan, and, yes, Jude, but he couldn’t hear anything in particular. The footsteps got closer and closer until they stopped right behind him, and Connor felt paralyzed as Taylor and Daria continued to talk to each other.  
“Connor and I actually live together,” Daria admitted, still looking intently at Taylor.  
“What?” Taylor said in shock. “Since when?”  
“He moved in when he found out he was going to play for the Padres, actually. So it hasn’t been too long a time, though certainly long enough for us to start getting a bit sick of each other.” Daria stuck out her tongue at Connor, and looking behind him, waved at the newcomer. “Hey, Jude,” she said.  
“Daria,” Jude replied, voice as deep as Connor remembered it being at DeAngelo’s. “I have to say this is a surprise.”  
Connor finally turned around to look at Jude. He was wearing skinny jeans and a cable-knit navy sweater, and Connor admitted to himself that the combination did wonders for his figure. When Connor’s glance finally reached Jude’s eyes, he saw confusion lying within them, and, if Connor could remember correctly from when they dated, jealousy?  
Connor couldn’t begin to think of a reason why Jude would be jealous, so he just assumed that, because it had been so long since they had truly been around each other, his expressions probably changed.  
“Hey, Jude,” Daria purred, before getting up to give him a hug. “Long time, no see.”  
“Yeah,” Jude said under his breath, hugging her back. After he stepped away, he looked back and forth between Daria and Connor before muttering something about ‘needing a breather for a moment’, and he walked away from the living room, obviously upset. Evan frowned and followed after him.  
“That was weird,” Daria said, frowning.   
“Jude’s difficult sometimes,” Taylor sighed. “Not that it’s new.”  
“Should I go see what’s up with him?” Connor offered, already standing up in hopes of having a private conversation with Jude. He figured if he asked Evan nicely to talk to Jude alone, the other man would have no problem with it.  
“No, let Evan and him have their moment,” Taylor replied.  
Connor froze. He didn’t like how those words sounded. Daria caught onto their meaning when she asked, “Their moment? What do you mean?”  
“Oh right, you two don’t know,” Taylor said, eyes widening. “My bad. Evan and Jude are dating. Have been, for the past two years.”  
Evan and Jude. Dating. Two years.  
Connor couldn’t wait for the dinner to be over.


	5. Chapter Five

Despite the awkwardness that had been thick in the air since they all sat down for dinner, Connor felt himself savouring Taylor’s cooking. She had made some type of pasta with homemade sauce, and both Connor and Daria had been quick to compliment her.   
When Connor finished up with his plate, he finally looked at the man sitting across from him.   
Jude had finished eating awhile ago, and he was fumbling around with his fork in a fashion that reminded Connor of when he had been fumbling around with the salt shaker at DeAngelo’s. After a few moments, Connor was aware he was staring at the man, but he didn’t care; he missed being able to look at Jude. Now that Jude was back in Connor’s life, Connor couldn’t believe he managed to live for so long without him.  
Connor’s eyes swept over Jude’s hair, which was carefully gelled back, down his jaw and resting on where his neck met his sweater. Suddenly, Connor remembered how Jude would run his fingers through Connor’s hair every time that Connor would move to kiss that spot.   
Connor felt his face reddening at the memory, and Jude looked as if he was finally going to break the silence and ask what was wrong, and Connor decided he needed to leave for a moment so he stood up and grabbed his dirty dish.  
“Here,” he said, motioning to Jude. “Let me get your plate.”  
Jude was about to hand it over when Evan spoke.  
“Nonsense, you don’t need to unset the table,” he said. “Jude can do it, don’t worry about it.”  
The casual tone Evan used bothered Connor. Connor glanced over at Jude, who had put back down his plate and kept his eyes off of Connor.  
“It’s no problem, I’m already up,” Connor replied.  
“You’re a guest here,” Evan insisted. “Let Jude do it.”  
“Jude’s a guest here, too,” Connor said. He felt Jude look up at him, but Connor was getting too pissed at Evan to move his gaze to his old friend.   
That comment seemed to throw Evan off. “Well, I guess, but he comes here to eat with us a few times a week, so it’s not like he’s new around here.”  
Connor opened his mouth to defend Jude again, but Jude stood up.  
“Connor, it’s fine. I can do the dishes. Can you hand me yours?”  
Connor didn’t want to hand Jude his, so he suggested something different. “You know what, we can both do the dishes.”  
“Connor,” Daria muttered under her breath, obviously a bit embarrassed about how her best friend was acting.   
“It’s fine, remember?” Connor said to her, before turning back to everyone. “We’ll both do the dishes, it’s settled.”  
Jude went into the kitchen, and Connor followed. He watched as Jude rinsed off his plate in the sink, before placing it in the dishwasher and opening up his hand for Connor’s plate. Connor gave it to him, and was silently watching him for a few moments, before deciding he should go back to where they were eating to get more dishes. Jude’s voice, however, stopped him from going anywhere.  
“So you brought Daria,” he stated simply.   
Connor nodded slowly. “I did bring Daria.”  
Jude seemed to rub at the dish harder than before. “So, I guess that means that you two are pretty serious?”  
“Serious?” Not for the first time this dinner, Connor was confused. “What do you mean by that?”  
“Like, you two live together now,” he said, and Connor confirmed that by nodding again. “I guess that means you two have been dating for awhile now.”  
“What?” Connor exclaimed, unable to contain his reaction. Jude finally looked at him as he made the sharp noise. Connor nervously laughed, but elaborated. “Daria and I are not dating, Jude.”  
“Oh,” he said, shock taking over his face. He looked back at the dish in his hand, and slowly went back to work washing it. “Oh.”  
Connor took a step closer to Jude. “Listen, I know it’s been forever since we’ve seen each other, but I’m still gay.”  
“Okay,” Jude said. “I just wasn’t sure if anything changed.” Connor opened his mouth, about to speak, when Jude sensed what he was about to say and turned to Connor with annoyance in his eyes. “Orientations can change, Connor.”  
“Yeah, I know,” Connor said, looking at his feet. “It’s just…. mine hasn’t.”  
Jude nodded and went back to the dishes. “Do your teammates know?”  
“Not yet,” Connor sighed. “I’m working on it.”  
Jude finished the dishes and looked at Connor. Taylor, Daria and Evan were still eating, which meant that Connor found himself alone with Jude for awhile. He wanted to ask Jude about anything and everything, but he didn’t want to scare him away with any questions in particular. Battling in his head, Connor decided to ask him about Evan.  
“So, you and Evan have been dating for two years?”  
Connor didn’t know if he expected Jude to smile softly, or to light up, but he found himself a bit happier when Jude didn’t react at all to Evan’s name.  
“We have,” he said.   
“Are you happy?”  
Jude hesitated. “Evan’s a nice guy,” he said after a few moments.  
Connor frowned. “That’s not what I asked.”  
“I know,” Jude sighed. Silence took over the room after it became more and more apparent that Jude wasn’t going to elaborate.   
Connor decided to try to reach out to the taller man in front of him. “Listen, if you ever need someone to talk to--”  
“What? You come into my life a decade after walking out of it, and you expect me to talk to you about the bad aspects of the relationship I’m in with a man I’ve been with for two years?”  
Connor shrunk onto himself. “I’m sorry.”  
Jude sighed. “Me, too. I shouldn’t have exploded on you like that.” He hung his head down, and Connor took a few steps toward him before reaching out for him and nudging his face back up.  
“No worries. Best friends for forever, remember?” Connor joked, looking into the dark abyss in Jude’s eyes. If nothing else, Connor missed being Jude’s friend.  
“Best friends forever,” Jude repeated, smiling at Connor.  
Their moment was interrupted when they heard footsteps start to come into the kitchen. Connor removed his hand from Jude’s face and took a few steps back before Evan entered, walking up to the sink next to Jude before rinsing off his dish. After he was done, he encircled Jude with a hug, and looked between the two of them with confused curiosity on his face.  
“Why are you two so silent?” he asked.  
“Sorry,” Connor muttered. All he wanted to do was leave; it killed him to see Evan have Jude in his life, without really looking like he understood what an accomplishment that was. He moved to leave when Evan interrupted him.  
“So, Connor, are you seeing any lucky man?”  
Connor didn’t expect him to know that he was gay, so he sputtered out a lame what in response.  
“Seriously, a buff guy like you has to get a lot of action,” Evan said with a laugh.  
“Evan, quit it,” Connor heard Jude mutter under his breath.  
“Why should I?” Evan asked, much louder than Jude. “Unless,” he said, voice dropping as he looked between his boyfriend and Connor, “he might tell me something I don’t want to hear?”  
“Evan, I told you that Connor and I have been over for like, ten years,” Jude sighed. “Do you trust me or not?”  
Evan smiled. “Of course I do,” he replied, although when he moved to kiss Jude’s neck (the lucky bastard, Connor thought), his eyes narrowed the slightest bit at Connor.  
Connor sighed, knowing Evan wasn’t going to stop being suspicious until he got an answer. “And I haven’t really been looking for any action for awhile now,” Connor said. “I don’t think I’m ready to come out in the major leagues yet.”  
“Connor!” he heard his voice being called from the living room. “Hey, it’s been two hours, I think the car meter has probably run out of time by now, and the last thing I need now is a ticket.”  
The three of them made their way back to the women, where Daria was gathering all of her things together. “Is it okay if we leave now?” she asked Connor, obviously in a hurry.  
“Sure,” Connor said back. He turned to Jude and Evan before saying goodbye to them, then did the same to Taylor, before following Daria, who was quickly walking to her car.  
As soon as Connor sat down in the passenger seat, he finally asked Daria why she had been in such a rush. She finally looked up at him, and her wild hair and wide eyes made a shocking image as Connor processed that something out of the ordinary must have happened to her.  
“I’ll talk about it when we get home, all right?” she said, hands shaking as she put the keys into the ignition.  
“Okay,” Connor replied. “Do you want me to drive?”  
“No, it’ll be okay, it’ll be okay,” she repeated, as if it was a mantra of hers. “It’ll be okay.”  
Connor stayed silent on the ride back to the apartment, and as soon as they walked in through the doors, Daria dove onto the couch and buried her face into a pillow. Connor didn’t know what to do, so he settled for gently sitting down next to her and slowly rubbing her back until she turned over to look at him.  
Connor raised his eyebrows at her, and Daria finally spoke.  
“Did you know that Taylor’s gay?”  
Connor shook his head. “I didn’t, but honestly, it’s not much of a surprise. I mean, she did always talk about Becky Thomas, and she does surround herself with other queer people.”  
Daria buried her head into her hands. “How did I not see that?” she groaned.  
Connor didn’t know what to say in reply to that, so he continued to rub Daria’s back. “I’m sorry?” he offered lamely, but to be honest, he didn’t know what the big fuss was about. He told Daria that, and she looked up at him.  
“Taylor asked me out,” she said. “Like, on a date.”  
“Wow,” Connor said. He hadn’t seen that coming.  
“Like, tomorrow.”  
“What?”  
“Remember when I lost the bet? When the three of you guys were in the kitchen, she asked me if I would be okay changing our dinner plans into dinner date plans.”  
“And you said?”  
“That the parking meter was about to expire,” Daria groaned. “I messed up, I know I did, you don’t have to tell me.”  
So Connor kept on rubbing her back. Until she spoke again, in about ten minutes.  
“I think I want to say yes,” she said.  
“You do?”  
“Yeah,” she said. A hint of a smile was on her face. “It’s so weird, because we were such good friends but lost contact, and now instead of trying to mend the broken friendship, we’re trying to do something else entirely.”  
“So it’s weird in a good way?”  
“Yeah,” she replied. “Weird in a good way.”  
Connor smiled at his best friend. “Well then, Daria, you better pick up the phone and let her know that you’re excited for your dinner date plans tomorrow.”  
“Okay,” she said. “Let me go do that now.”  
-!-!-!-!-!-  
When Daria came home after her dinner date the next night, she was all smiles. Connor opened up a bottle of wine to help her celebrate ‘new beginnings’.  
“... and then instead of wiping it off my face, like a normal person would, she just went straight in for the kiss. And I let her. And it was magical and then it ended because she had to leave,” Daria said, her story now finished. Connor toasted to her and her newfound success before taking a sip of wine.  
“I just feel so lucky,” Daria said. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen her, and Jude, and you, all together, and it’s been a day and already things are looking up.”  
“It was nice to see everyone,” Connor agreed. “I can’t believe Jude’s been dating someone for two years.” Uh-oh. Why did Connor say that? What on earth drove him to say that? Now Daria was going to just know something was up, he was in such deep trouble--  
“What do you think of Evan?” she asked. “Honestly, I’m curious.”  
Grateful that she didn’t ask Connor why he immediately wanted to talk about Jude, he answered her. “He’s nice,” and that made him remember that Jude had said precisely the same thing the night earlier, “but… I don’t know. I think he tries to control Jude a little bit too much.”  
“Hey Connor?”  
“Yeah, Daria?”  
“You need to move on,” she said, looking sadly at him.  
Connor froze, and tried to play dumb. “What are you talking about?”  
“Jude’s not going to break up with his boyfriend of two years just because you’re back in his life,” Daria said. “That doesn’t make any sense, Connor.”  
Connor looked at his hands. “I know,” he replied, and he couldn’t help but notice how small his voice sounded.  
“I know this is the last thing you want to hear, but you need to realize that Jude is with someone else now,” Daria said, and Connor felt as if he was going to be sick. “You can’t pine after him, Connor, because he’s taken.”  
Connor didn’t know what to say, so he decided to say nothing. Daria stayed with him and his silence for a little while, before patting his back and walking into her bedroom.   
Connor walked into his bedroom shortly after, and in the safety of his bed, a few teardrops fell. He quickly wiped them away, but their imprint burned in his skin.  
Because Daria was right. Jude was with Evan, and that wouldn’t change just because Connor was back in his life.  
It had been foolish of Connor to hope for that change.


	6. Chapter Six

About five months had passed since the dinner at Taylor and Evan’s apartment, and Connor found himself completely immersed in baseball. It had been so busy, but he knew that within another month it would be off-season and he would have all the free time in the world, so he didn’t really mind. He had seen Taylor a lot of times since the dinner, seeing as she and Daria were getting more and more serious with each other, but he had only been able to see Jude once or twice, and only in passing.  
The sun was just coming up and Connor was making his bed when he heard a knock on the door. He quickly told the person outside to come in, and he turned around to see who it was, and to no surprise, it was Daria. She looked nervous; she was twirling a strand of hair around her pointer finger, trying to look anywhere but at Connor.  
“What’s up?” Connor asked, trying to remember if he had done the dishes or not the night before, because if he hadn’t, she might have been in his room to scold him.  
“I just wanted to talk to you about something,” she said, standing still in his doorway.  
Shoot. No, he hadn’t done the dishes the night before.  
Connor sighed and sat down on his bed. He closed his eyes, trying to prepare himself for the speech that was about to come, but after a few moments with no word from Daria, he opened up his eyes to look at his best friend. To his surprise, she still hadn’t moved.   
Something is wrong, Connor thought. He patted the area on the bed next to him so that Daria would come closer, but she shook her head.  
“What’s up?” Connor repeated, genuinely concerned for her.  
“Nothing bad,” she said, and Connor visibly relaxed. “But, um…. Well, you know that Taylor and I have been dating for awhile.”  
Connor nodded. “Yeah.”  
“For like, five months.”  
“Yeah.”  
“And it would be completely ridiculous to get engaged or something right now.”  
Connor wasn’t sure what to say to that, so he decided to agree. “Yeah.”  
“But maybe not so ridiculous to move in with each other?”  
Connor couldn’t quite understand what Daria was implying. “What?”  
Daria sighed. “I asked Taylor to move in with me.”  
“With us,” Connor corrected. “Um… why didn’t you let me know about this before?”  
“It just kind of happened?”  
“Okay,” Connor said, still trying to process things. “So what did she say?”  
“She said yes,” Daria replied, still obviously hesitant. Connor just stared at her, trying to figure out why she was acting the way she was.  
“Do you not want her to move in?” he finally asked, after finding the guts to say that. “If it just kind of came out, and you don’t want her to move in anymore, I’m sure you can just tell her--”  
Daria shook her head. “No, I want her to move in, but I just…” She took a deep breath, before looking Connor straight in the eye and continuing. “Do you not want her to move in?”  
Connor looked away and thought about it seriously for a moment. He really liked Taylor, and he especially liked how happy Daria was around her. And although Connor and Daria were best friends, it could get boring at the dinner table sometimes. The help on the rent would be nice, seeing as neither Daria nor him were making a fortune. The only downside Connor could see to it was that he would probably have to be a third-wheel for most things with the two of them together for everything, but that small inconvenience was worth seeing Daria moving along with the source of her happiness.  
Connor looked back at Daria, who was getting more and more nervous by the second, and he smiled, which made her smile.  
Taylor was going to move in.  
-!-!-!-!-!-  
Three weeks later, Connor found both himself and Daria outside their apartment building, waiting for Taylor’s U-Haul truck to pull up.  
“You know what,” Daria said, poking Connor in the stomach. “It seems like just yesterday I was doing this for you.”  
“Yeah,” Connor said. “My back is still sore from having to move everything upstairs by myself,” he jokingly complained, stretching out for added effect.  
“Hey!” Daria exclaimed. She was about to retort when Taylor drove up with the truck.  
Over the next hour, Connor helped her bring her stuff inside the apartment, until the three of them finally finished unloading and sat down together for the first time on their couch. The doorbell rang, and since Taylor and Daria both complained about how much they didn’t want to get up, Connor reluctantly sauntered over to the door and opened it up.  
“Oh,” he said, eyebrows high in shock. “Hey… Um, why don’t you two come in?”  
“Thanks,” Evan replied, already halfway through the door. Jude stayed stationary for a moment, and Connor looked at him quizzically before he finally moved.  
“Nice new place,” Evan said, looking around. “Or normal place,” he added, nodding to Daria and Connor.  
“Thanks,” Daria replied. “It’s good to see you guys here, but if you would’ve let me know that you guys were coming, I could’ve made you guys something to eat.”  
“Yeah, sorry about that,” Jude said, shaking his head slightly. “I told Evan we should’ve asked to come over before we did, but--”  
“But I knew you guys couldn’t say no to our beautiful faces, now could you,” Evan said, smiling.   
Connor walked back to his seat, and he couldn’t help but notice how Jude remained standing near the door, looking at the floor as his boyfriend excitedly paced in front of the two women.   
“I can’t believe you actually left,” Evan said to Taylor. “Now there’s a whole entire bedroom left in the apartment, unless somebody wants to take it,” he said, making a point of looking at Jude. Jude’s focus remained on the floor.  
“You know what, it’s so great to see you two move in together after only five months,” Evan commented, continuing to look at Jude. “You know, some people can be together for years and still not be ready to move in together. Crazy, right?”  
By now the tension was visible in the room. Taylor and Daria had completely sat up, and Connor was torn between wanting to look at Jude for some sort of confirmation that Jude had maybe said he didn’t want to move in with Evan (which would make Connor so freaking happy, but he couldn’t really focus on that with all the pressure in the room) or looking at the floor to avoid everything and everyone. He had just settled on the floor option when a loud ding burst in the air. He cringed.  
“Sorry, that’s my phone,” he said, standing up to go get to where it was, charging by the refridgerator.   
He looked at the text, which was from his teammate, Reggie.  
Heyyyy bro, so Piper just cancelled on coming to the game tomorrow, I was wondering if you wanted the tix she had?? There are two up for grab, right by home plate, lemme know if you want them.  
He sat back down on the couch, and while he normally wouldn’t take the offer (the only person to occasionally come to his games was his father, but he was on vacation for the next few days), he felt like the tension in the room needed to be broken by a distraction.  
“Hey, Daria and Taylor, are you two free for a game tomorrow night? I got two home plate tickets that are mine for the taking,” he said, forcing a smile.  
Taylor looked at the floor as Daria widened her eyes.  
“Oh, um,” Daria said. Connor waited for her to continue, but she didn’t.  
“Well, what?” Connor asked.  
“Taylor and I were actually planning to spend the day and night tomorrow in LA,” she said. “If that’s okay with you?”  
“Oh,” Connor said. “Well, yeah. Of course. You guys do what you want to do, don’t worry about me.” He made sure to smile at the end, to alleviate any of Daria’s worries.   
“Isn’t baseball season over?”   
Connor smiled even wider when Jude finally decided to talk. Sure, it might’ve been so that he could get even farther away from the moving in topic, but Connor was going to take what he could get.  
“Almost,” he replied. “We have about a month left.”  
Jude nodded. The silence was just getting to be noticeable again when Connor got an idea.  
“Hey, Jude, would you like to watch the game tomorrow?”  
Jude blinked at Connor, taken aback. Connor felt his heart beating swiftly in his chest, and he wasn’t sure whether it sped up or slowed down when Jude nodded his head and said, “Sure, that’d be fun.”  
“There are two tickets, right?” Evan asked. Right. Evan. Shoot.  
“Um, yeah,” Connor said, reluctantly. “There are two tickets.”  
“Great, so I can come, too,” he said, taking his place for granted. There was just something about this guy that got under Connor’s nerves.  
“Evan, I think it’s time for us to leave,” Jude said quietly. “It was nice to see all of you guys. Good luck in the new place, Taylor.”  
“Thanks, Jude,” Taylor said, smiling at her friend. “Take care.”  
Jude grunted and walked out, and Evan trailed closely behind him without caring enough to say a goodbye.  
“So,” Connor said. “I think I’ll let you guys hang out by yourselves now,” he added, moving to leave.  
“No, don’t go!” Taylor cried out. Daria laughed.  
“Seriously!” Taylor insisted. “Go grab a bottle of wine and three drinking glasses. Let’s get this new living arrangement started off in a good way.”  
Connor saw Daria lean over to peck Taylor on the cheek before he obeyed her wishes and grabbed the things she told him to grab. Within an hour, they were all pretty drunk, all happy to be in each other’s company.  
“So what the hell is up with Evan and Jude?” Daria asked, laughing. “Jesus Christ, I’m not even in that relationship and I wanted to break everything up.”  
Connor’s interest in conversation greatly increased.  
“Evan asked Jude to move into my old room,” Taylor said, refilling her glass. “He said no, and Evan still can’t believe he could just be refused like that.”  
“Did they break up?” Connor couldn’t help but ask.  
“No,” Taylor said, “but to be completely honest, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if they do.”  
“So is Evan the only guy that Jude’s been with since Connor?” Daria asked.  
Connor frowned. “I thought there was someone after I moved to LA,” he said. “Daria, you told me there was some other guy.”  
“Yeah, but Jude never actually dated him,” she said. “Jude just kind of ignored him until he went away. I mean, I don’t blame him, he had just gotten out of his relationship with you.”  
Connor stared at his glass. “So, me and Evan? That’s been it?”  
“Pretty much,” Taylor replied. “There was this one guy in college, but he used Jude as an experiment rather than an actual boyfriend, so we don’t really talk about him.”  
“Poor guy,” Daria crooned. “Well, even though we haven’t seen them interact positively with each other, he’s been dating Evan for so long, I’m sure he’s good for him.”  
“I mean, I guess,” Taylor said.  
“What do you mean, you guess?” Connor asked.  
Taylor shrugged. “Every relationship has their cracks,” she said. “Their relationship just has a lot more than most.”  
And with that, Connor went back to clinging onto the hope that maybe, just maybe, one day he could be dating Jude again.


	7. Chapter Seven

The next morning, Connor was placing frozen waffles into the toaster for himself to eat when his phone rang. He started to heat them up, then moved to grab his phone, frowning as he looked at the caller’s face on his phone.  
“Hey, dad,” he said. “What’s up?”  
“Hey Connor,” his father replied. “Listen, my vacation had to be cut short, so turns out that I will be in town tonight, and I was planning on catching your game.”  
“Sure, that’d be fine,” Connor said. “I don’t have any free tickets for tonight, though.” Which was true, he hadn’t been given any free tickets for the game that night. Technically, the ones he gave Evan and Jude were Reggie’s.   
“That’s okay, I looked online and there were some tickets available, I’ll just get one of those,” his father said through the static of the phone.   
Connor didn’t know what to say, so he didn’t say anything. And his father didn’t say anything. Silence took over, and Connor frowned.  
“Hey dad, is everything all right?” Now that he thought about it, he had no idea why his father would want to come home from a vacation early.  
“Don’t worry about me,” he responded. “I’ll see you tonight, okay?”  
“Sure,” Connor said back. “Sounds good, just… let me know if you need anything, okay?”  
“Don’t worry about me,” Adam repeated. “Bye, Connor.”  
“Bye, dad.”  
Connor set down the phone, and he couldn’t help but worry about his father, even though that was the one thing he wasn’t supposed to do. Despite all the hardships his father put him through, the worst being his initial homophobia when Connor first told his father that he was romantically involved with Jude, Connor couldn’t help but still care about the parent that never left him. For all that it was worth, Adam never asked Connor to go live with his mother in LA; that choice was Connor’s, and his alone. His dad tried his best for Connor, and that meant a lot to him, even if he still valued his separation.  
The frozen waffles popped up, out of the toaster. Connor sighed, before taking them out and bathing them in maple syrup, a practice he had picked up over ten years ago from Jude. They were in his stomach in a record-breaking two minutes, and he walked over to the Padres stadium, anxious to prepare for that night’s game.   
-!-!-!-!-!-  
Connor tried to find Jude (and Evan, he supposed) in the crowd whenever he went up to hit, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t find his father either, though that didn’t surprise him, because he had no idea where his father was sitting.  
By the top of the ninth inning, it was clear that the Padres were going to win the match. They did end up winning, 7-2, and Connor tried to rush in and out of the locker room as quickly as he could, because he knew that there would be people waiting on him when he walked out. He kept on his baseball practice pants, and changed into a tee shirt, before saying goodbye to Reggie and leaving the locker room.  
Sure enough, there were two figures he instantly recognized when he went out to the public area Connor had arranged to meet everyone at. And he slowed down as he recognized them. He cringed at the sight.  
His father was talking to Jude. And from what he could see, Jude wasn’t displaying any sign of being uncomfortable, but knowing their history, Connor doubted that it would not be long before Adam crossed a line or two.  
“Hey,” Connor said, approaching them. “Where’s Evan? Is he in the bathroom?”  
“No, actually, he couldn’t make it,” Jude replied, looking at the floor and smiling thinly. “I’m sure he’s sorry about that.”  
“Oh, it’s okay,” Connor replied, as if to console Jude. He wasn’t sure he wanted to console Jude, however, because Connor knew that he didn’t want to defend Evan in any situation.  
“Good game,” Jude said, looking up at Connor. Connor smiled brightly at him before saying a thanks.  
“Your swings were completely off during the third inning,” Adam said, and Connor rolled his eyes before turning to his father. “But, you know, congratulations on the win.”  
“Thanks, dad,” Connor said. “I’m glad you could make it, and I’m sorry that your vacation got cut short.”  
“I’m glad I could make it, too.” Adam didn’t go on further. Connor didn’t want to push him.  
“So, do you guys want to grab something to eat? There’s a great Chinese restaurant a few blocks from here, if you two are interested,” Connor suggested.  
“Actually, I should probably get going,” Adam said. “I’ll see you later, Connor.”  
Connor nodded, and his father left to go to the parking lot. Jude was still looking at Connor, and they maintained an awkward eye contact with each other for awhile until both men burst out laughing.  
“So,” Connor wheezed. “What do you want to do?”  
“To be completely honest, I kind of want to grab a drink,” Jude admitted.  
“All righty,” Connor said. “Let’s go do that.”  
They started to walk off together, Connor taking Jude to a bar near Connor’s apartment. Throughout their walk, Connor couldn’t help but notice how sometimes, Jude’s eyes drifted down to Connor’s rather tight baseball pants. Connor knew that his face had to be red, but Jude made no comment about it, instead pretending that everything was normal.  
They got to the bar, but, not surprisingly for a Saturday night, it was completely crowded. Connor remembered how Jude got claustrophobic around too many people, so, elevating his voice so that Jude might be able to hear it above the noise from the bar, he asked, “Do you want to come over to the apartment? There’s booze there.”  
To his surprise, Jude nodded.   
Connor felt giddy and nervous as he moved to unlock the door to enter the apartment. He gently reminded himself that this wasn’t anything but a casual get together, but the excitement of getting Jude all to himself made him feel like the moment was so incredibly important.   
When they came in, Connor was quick to grab a handful of beers, and he settled them on the coffee table as Jude made himself comfortable on their couch.  
“This really is a nice place,” Jude said, looking around.  
“Thanks,” Connor replied, opening up two beer bottles. Finally, the caps flew off. Smiling, Connor handed Jude the first one. “Here you go.”  
“Thanks.”  
They drank beer after beer, conversation flowing naturally between them. Connor learned that although Jude had gone to college far away from San Diego, he came back for his moms’ 20th wedding anniversary. When he was back in town, he met up with Taylor, who introduced him to Evan. The two of them hit it off pretty quickly, and Jude found a job at the local LGBTQA center, so he never really felt like moving back away from San Diego. When they were down to their last beers, Connor asked questions about Evan.  
“So where was Evan tonight?”  
“Not at the game,” Jude sighed, taking another sip of his beer.   
“You don’t know where he was?”  
“We had a fight yesterday, I thought he was going to show up at the game no matter what, but he didn’t.”  
“What was the fight about?”  
“He wants me to move in with him,” Jude said. That much was obvious, Connor thought, given their interaction with each other the day before. “But I don’t want to move in with him.”  
“Why not?”   
“I thought about it for awhile, and it just doesn’t feel right to be thinking about living with him. I don’t really know why, but it bothered me. And I told him that. And he got mad at me.”  
Connor had just realized that tears were beginning to leak out of Jude’s eyes. Connor quickly stood up (and almost fell over, thanks to the alcohol in his blood), and grabbed some paper towels before handing them to Jude for him to use as tissues.  
Connor kept his eyes focused on Jude, even though his vision was beginning to get a bit blurry.  
“I think we’re done. He said we’re done. I think that was it,” Jude whimpered. “I don’t get it. Why does everyone always break up with me?”  
“What?” Connor asked, voice light as a feather.  
“Evan just broke up with me,” Jude mumbled. “Keith broke up with me.” Connor didn’t know who the hell Keith was, but then he remembered that someone in college had used Jude as an experiment, and he assumed Keith was that guy. That bastard, Connor thought. “And then you broke up with me.”  
Jude was staring straight at Connor, and Connor was frozen.  
“Daria--” Connor knew what he wanted to say, but he couldn’t get the words out.  
Jude frowned at him. “Daria, what?”  
Connor sighed. “She told me that you had someone else, and I didn’t want to tie you down,” Connor said. Jude looked like he was about to say something, but Connor interrupted him. “And I just found out that you couldn’t even pay attention to the other person, and I feel like an ass for breaking up with you, but you have to know that distance was the only reason that I did what I did. I hated feeling like I was taking away some of your freedom, Jude. I hated feeling like I was hurting you.”  
“You should’ve asked me how I felt, then,” Jude said. “Because I was never sad when we were dating. The only time you really hurt me was when you broke up with me. Sure, I noticed other guys noticing me, but I was only interested in you, Connor.”  
The silence was deafening. Connor was looking at Jude, and Jude was looking at Connor, and just when Connor was beginning to gather the courage to move closer to him, Jude stood up.  
“It’s late,” he said simply. “I should go.”  
He started moving toward the door, and he tripped over the coffee table, and suddenly Connor remembered how drunk the two of them were.  
“You can’t go out like how you are now,” Connor said. “Stay the night,” he insisted.  
Jude grumbled a response that Connor couldn’t hear, but Connor was already making his way into his bedroom, pulling out pajamas that Jude could change into. He shoved them into Jude’s hands when he entered Connor’s room, and while he was changing in the bathroom, Connor quickly switched out his baseball practice pants for a pair of gray sweatpants.   
Connor sat on his bed afterwards, fiddling with his thumbs as he waited for Jude to return. He did after a few minutes, and he threw himself onto Connor’s bed, snuggling up against his pillow.   
“Goodnight, Jude,” Connor murmured, before getting off of the bed and moving to the door.  
“Where are you going?” Jude’s voice seemed so small. Connor could feel it rush his heartbeat.   
“I’ll just be in the living room,” Connor said, trying to calm Jude. “Just on the couch.”  
Jude didn’t immediately respond, so Connor nodded his head in the dark and moved to leave.  
“Connor?” Jude called out, and Connor instantly came back.  
“Yeah?”  
“Would you mind staying in here with me? I don’t really like being alone in the dark.”  
And so Connor made his way back into his room, before lowering himself onto his bed and pulling the covers up over both himself and Jude. Connor pretended that his breathing hadn’t stopped a few minutes later when Jude, already asleep, burrowed his head into Connor’s shoulder. Connor knew from that moment that he wasn’t going to fall asleep. Having Jude so close to him, touching him, was going to keep his blood boiling and his mind wide awake.   
It was going to be a long night, Connor thought to himself. But he wouldn’t change anything about it.


	8. Chapter Eight

Connor did, in fact, fall asleep, a few hours later, in the early morning. His sleep didn’t last for very long, because some time afterwards the ringing of the doorbell jolted Connor awake. He rubbed his eyes before looking at the man next to him.  
Jude was still peacefully resting, one of his hands shoved under his face. His hair had become rumpled from the previous night, and his breathing emitted the lightest snoring sound, which Connor found to be adorable. Connor’s eyes wandered down Jude’s neck, stopping to watch as his Adam’s Apple bobbed for a second when he swallowed, before landing on Jude’s shirt. Connor’s shirt, actually. The soft blue fabric looked a lot better on Jude, Connor thought.  
The doorbell rang again, and Connor reluctantly got out of bed. He didn’t want Jude to wake up. Slowly, Connor padded to the front door, surprised when he saw who was there.  
“Hey dad,” Connor said. “Um… Come in.”  
Adam walked into the apartment and sat down on the sofa, Connor pausing before joining him.  
“Do you want anything to drink?” Connor asked, before he sat down.  
“No, I’m fine,” his father responded.  
“Is everything okay?”  
“Everything is fine,” Adam replied, looking earnestly at Connor. “I just wanted to go over yesterday’s game with you.”  
Connor internally sighed; ‘going over the game’ meant that Adam nitpicked every movement Connor made whenever he walked onto the baseball diamond. When he was younger, these conversations could last hours. Now, in the professional leagues, Connor usually felt successful when the talks lasted for one hour.  
Connor prayed that Jude wouldn’t wake up anytime soon.  
“Your form in the top of the first was pretty sloppy for their third batter, and in my opinion, you’re just lucky that your pitcher managed to throw such easy pitches to catch. Straight and to the point, you know? Fast enough so that no man could hit them, though.”  
“I guess,” Connor said, making himself comfortable on the couch. He was going to be there for awhile.  
“And you struck out in the bottom of the first,” Adam added.  
“But I didn’t strike out any other time,” Connor felt like mentioned.   
“No excuses, Connor.”  
“I don’t think yesterday’s game was so bad,” Connor said. In fact, it went really well, because Connor was inspired to do well due to Jude being somewhere in the stadium.  
“It wasn’t your worst game, but Connor, there was so much area that you could’ve done better in,” Adam said. He continued his rambling, and forty minutes and seven innings later, Connor heard the unmistakable sounds of footsteps coming out of his room.  
Shoot.  
Sure enough, Jude’s head popped into view a few seconds later. Connor’s breath caught in his throat when he saw Jude was still wearing Connor’s clothes, but Adam looked up to see Jude, who was just noticing him, and the facial expression of pure shock hit both of their faces and all of a sudden Connor felt as if he was going to suffocate.   
“Jude,” Adam said.   
“Mr. Stevens,” Jude said, frozen. Connor was frozen, also.   
Why did Adam have to come over today, of all days? Why now?   
Connor couldn’t help but notice the way Adam’s eyes looked in panic between his son and Jude.   
“Why are you here?” Adam burst out, unable to contain the question any longer. Connor sighed, knowing that for his father, his reaction wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been.  
Jude desperately looked at Connor, and Connor shot a look back at him that clearly said, I don’t know what to do right now. The silence dragged on for awhile, and with every second Adam seemed to be getting more and more uncomfortable, until Adam finally noticed that he recognized Jude’s shirt.  
“Why are you wearing Connor’s stuff?” he asked, looking between the two men. “Have you two…”  
“No!” Jude exclaimed. Connor occupied himself by looking at the floor. “No,” Jude said again, but with the purpose of convincing Adam or Connor or maybe even Jude himself, Connor didn’t know.   
“We’re…. Nothing. Nothing happened, I just needed to crash here unexpectedly last night,” Jude explained, waving his hands around slightly as he talked.  
“Well,” Adam started. He didn’t continue.  
The awkwardness was driving Connor insane.  
“Dad, why don’t I escort you to the door?” Connor wasn’t quite sure if he had phrased it in the most polite way, but he wanted his father to leave. Needed his father to leave.   
Adam stood up, and without a word, he walked over to the front door and saw himself out. Connor looked up at Jude, and together they held their gaze on each other.  
“I should go,” Jude said after awhile. He didn’t move to leave, and Connor didn’t move either. They were still staring at each other.  
“I should go,” Jude repeated, with more force and conviction that time. “I should go.”  
And so he rolled his hand through his hair and started to walk back to Connor’s bedroom, where his clothes from the previous night were.  
“Wait,” Connor muttered quietly. Jude must’ve heard him, though, because he stopped his motions.  
“I’m sorry that you had to see my dad,” Connor started off, knowing that the two of them had always had a rocky relationship with each other. Connor sighed, and was about to continue with more apologies, when Jude cut in.  
“No, that was okay, he apologized to me yesterday.”  
Connor couldn’t be more surprised. “What?”  
“After the game?” Jude questioned. He frowned when Connor just shook his head. “He didn’t tell you?”  
“Didn’t tell me what?” Connor said, growing irritated.  
“He ran into your mother when he was away,” Jude said, looking at Connor as if he should have known this information by now. “She pretty much told him that it had been long enough since he was an asshole to the two of us, and that he needed to apologize before truly getting to be on your good side.”  
“And he just told you all of this?”  
“I think it helped him, you know, to explain where the apology was coming from. I’m pretty sure that I would doubt his sincerity if it came out of the blue.”  
Connor exhaled deeply. He didn’t know what to say, so he didn’t say anything.  
“You know,” Jude said, stepping closer to Connor. “You know he loves you, no matter what, right?”  
Connor looked into Jude’s eyes, losing himself in the dark abyss, and just when Jude had lingered a little too close to him for a little too long, Jude looked away and went into Connor’s bedroom.  
Connor sighed, before playing around with his hands out of nervousness. Jude unsettled him, but in the best way possible. Every moment with Jude was full of uncertainty, but with the confusion came endless possibility.  
Connor was standing in his living room for about five minutes when Jude came back, in his clothes from the night before.  
“I left your pajamas folded on your bed,” Jude muttered, nearing Connor.  
“Thanks,” he responded.  
Jude scratched the back of his neck before moving to the door. “I’ll see you later, I guess.”  
He had just opened the door when Connor decided that they weren’t done. He took a few steps toward Jude and closed the door again with one arm.  
“What was last night?” Connor asked, eyes wide.   
Jude slightly shrunk away. “I was drunk, Connor.”  
“Do you remember everything?”  
Jude moved his head up and down in the smallest nod, and Connor was at a loss for what to say or do, but he decided to go with his gut.  
“Why did you ask me to sleep with you?” he questioned.  
“I’m just afraid of the dark,” Jude said, but his voice was small and he was looking at the ceiling, signs that Jude was lying, signs that Connor easily recognized.  
“Bullshit,” Connor whispered. “Don’t feed me that crap.”  
Jude didn’t respond, which just frustrated Connor. He took a step closer to the other man.  
“Why did you ask me to sleep with you,” he repeated, insistent.  
“I don’t know,” Jude burst out, finally looking at Connor with a fire in his eyes that slightly scared Connor. Connor was silent, and Jude decided to keep on talking.  
“I don’t know exactly why I asked you to sleep with me,” he said, “but for some weird reason, I wanted you to stay. I didn’t want you to leave. I wanted you to stay with me.”  
Jude face was contorted in such a way that it reminded Connor of their first real kiss, in Jude’s bedroom.  
I don’t get this…. I don’t get you.  
It was almost like it was a sign, so Connor took another step closer to Jude.  
Connor’s hand slowly reached out and pulled Jude closer to him, and just as Connor was about to close the distance, just as Connor felt Jude’s breath hitch, just as Connor saw Jude’s eyes close, the door opened.  
Connor and Jude broke apart quickly as Daria and Taylor stepped into the apartment.  
“Jude! Hey!” Taylor exclaimed when she saw her friend. She reached out to give Jude a hug, which he returned, eyes still focused on Connor.   
Connor felt like he was going to be sick, and telling from Jude’s face, he was feeling the exact same thing.  
“I have to leave,” Connor heard Jude murmur, before walking outside of the apartment and closing the door behind him.  
Connor felt numb as Daria and Taylor began talking about their trip to LA. They moved their way into the living room, too occupied with the happiness they found in each other to notice that Connor hadn’t moved an inch from where he had been when they entered the apartment. They were laughing at the memories they were trying to tell Connor, who wasn’t listening, due to one thought that was beginning to haunt Connor’s mind.   
They had been so close.


	9. Chapter Nine

For the next few weeks, Connor threw himself into baseball. He couldn’t help but replay the almost-kiss at every possible second, however, which only made his form weak. He had talked with his father the day after Jude left his apartment, and Adam explained why he talked to Jude without talking to Connor.  
“Your mother asked me if I had ever made amends with you for the entire Jude situation all those years ago,” Adam had said. “I realized I didn’t, and even though we’re on solid ground right now with each other, I wanted to fix some cracks in the foundation. I was going to tell you eventually.”  
Connor nodded along to what his father was saying. It was true; over the years, Adam had been a lot more accepting of Connor than what he ever could have expected. Knowing that his father cared enough about Connor to try to fix the past meant a lot, even though at the time, it all just reminded Connor of Jude and their closeness the previous day.   
Daria eventually noticed the way Connor couldn’t focus on anything besides baseball (and the almost-kiss, although she didn’t know about that), and Connor noticed how much effort she put into trying to make him go out with her. One day, he relented, and she dragged him along with her to the grocery store.  
Connor had gone off by himself to go grab some fruit he could snack on before the game that was coming up for him, and when he came back to Daria, holding a banana, she burst out in laughter. He held the fruit tightly and frowned while Daria waggled her eyebrows at him, still laughing.  
“What,” Connor sighed. “What is it this time.”  
“Well, Mr. Stevens,” she said in a deep voice, leaving the cart for a moment and sauntering over to him, “I can’t help but admire your choice of fruit.”  
“What the hell are you talking about?” Connor asked, worried about the mental stability of his best friend.  
Daria reverted back to her normal self, picking up on the edge in Connor’s voice. “A banana, Connor? The only way you could get any more gay is if you decided to grab a zucchini instead.”  
“Jesus, Daria,” Connor said, trying to hide his small smile as he threw the banana in the cart. “Get your mind out of the gutter.”  
“Sorry,” she said, obviously not sorry at all.   
Daria continued to make jokes as Connor tried his best to keep walking in the supermarket. He found himself smiling as she bounced around, trying to generate a laugh. They finally finished up and headed over to the checkout, where Daria took an unnaturally serious tone with Connor.  
“What did I miss,” she asked, looking at Connor. “You’ve been acting strange for the last few days, what’s happening?”  
“Nothing,” Connor said, trying to brush it off.  
“Don’t tell me it’s nothing,” Daria sighed, frustrated. “You’ve barely talked to me or Taylor for weeks now, Connor.”  
Connor was silent as the cashier started to ring up their things.  
“God, why is everyone so moody right now,” she muttered, loud enough that Connor picked up on it.  
“I’m not moody,” Connor insisted, looking at Daria.  
She rolled her eyes at him. “Of course you aren’t. Nobody else is, either.”  
“Who else?”  
Daria sighed. “Jude’s been distant from Taylor ever since the breakup,” she said.  
Connor’s heart started to beat slowly. “Breakup?”  
“They broke up the day after Taylor moved in,” she said, scrunching up her eyes as she looked up at the taller man. “You and Jude hung out that day, right? Didn’t he tell you?”  
Connor shook his head, feeling relieved and giddy. So Jude and Evan were officially over when Jude slept over.  
“He didn’t tell me,” Connor said.  
“Then what did you guys do together?”  
Connor was silent as the cashier handed him the bags from their shopping adventure. He remained silent as he started to walk back to the apartment, Daria trailing after him.   
“Connor! Oh my God, Connor, what did you guys do together? Connor! Come on, you owe me!”  
“Owe you for what?”  
“God, Connor, I don’t know, but you just owe me, all right? Seriously, what the hell happened?”  
Connor tried not to say anything, but all he had wanted to do since finding out Evan and Jude were officially over was have a big smile on his face. So he let in to his desires, and Daria gave him a look when she saw his face.  
“Did my boy get some?” Daria asked, looking scandalous.   
“No,” Connor exclaimed, glaring at her. “No, nothing was gotten.”  
“Bummer,” she said, walking in step with Connor. She was silent and looking at him, so Connor finally let in to her wishes and confessed what had happened between them to her.  
“Holy mackerel,” she whispered after she had listened to everything. “Man, I’m so sorry that Taylor and I walked in at that exact moment.”  
“It’s not your fault,” Connor said. “Don’t you dare worry about it.”  
Daria was quiet for a moment. “Hey Connor?”  
“Yeah?”  
“Remember what I told you when you to move on from Jude, after I went on my first date with Taylor?”  
Connor frowned. “Yeah.”  
“I take that back.”  
Connor looked in surprise at his friend. “Are you sure?” he asked, not believing her.  
She smiled at him before punching him lightly on the shoulder. “Of course, dummy. You go after him if you want to.”  
Connor smiled. Jude was single, and Daria had given her approval. Life was looking good.  
-!-!-!-!-!-  
Life was looking bad. The game had gone horribly wrong, and Connor knew that he had a long talk to look forward to with his father. As he was packing up his things, Reggie came up to greet him.  
“Rough game,” Reggie said, patting Connor once on the back.  
“Could have been worse,” Connor said, although in reality, he had played mediocre games on his high school teams that were better than the game that had just passed by.  
“Most of the guys are skipping DeAngelo’s tonight, but I was still planning on going, and I was wondering if you were?”  
Connor didn’t have anything else to do. “Sure.”  
Reggie smiled brightly at him. “Great. Piper’s going to be there, too, just so you know.”  
Connor smiled back at him. “Piper, huh?”  
“She’s great,” Reggie said. “And don’t even get me started on those two huge--”  
“Stop,” Connor groaned, knowing exactly where Reggie was going. He had spent two hours the other day listening to Reggie talk about a birthmark on the ass of the first lady he had slept with, back when he was in high school. He didn’t want any details like that to change how he felt about Piper.  
They made it to DeAngelo’s about half an hour later, Reggie going straight to Piper who was hanging out by the pool tables, Connor heading straight to the bar to order a beer. As he started to approach the counter, however, he could not help but noticed another man who was sitting by the bar, lightly sipping a beer of his own.  
“Jude?” Connor called, before realizing that he probably should have planned out how to first approach him better. It was too late, because Jude turned his head at his voice and stared straight at Connor.   
“Connor,” he said, surprise tainting his features. “Hey.”  
Connor felt himself moving closer to Jude, as if pulled by a magnet. “Do you mind if I sit here?” Connor asked, pointing at the open seat next to Jude. Jude shook his head and Connor sat down.  
“Hey,” Jude said. Connor couldn’t help but admire once again the depth within his voice.   
“Hey,” Connor replied, noticing how small his voice seemed compared to Jude’s, yet Jude seemed not to care.  
“So,” Jude said. “What’s up with you?”  
“Not much, I just came here from a game.”  
“How’d it go?”  
“It wasn’t the greatest,” Connor admitted, entirely not focused on the game and completely entranced by the depth in Jude’s eyes that matched the depth in his voice.  
Jude just nodded and went back to sipping his beer.  
The two men made small talk for awhile, before silence took over for awhile and Jude decided to burn it all to the ground.  
“We were going to kiss each other,” he said out of the blue. Or, at least, it seemed out of the blue, but Connor had been thinking the same exact thing for quite some time.  
Connor looked around the room, noting to himself that Reggie and Piper were still in the building, engaged in a game of pool. “We were.”  
“So what do we do now?” Jude asked.  
Connor felt a surge of confidence rush over him. “Try again?” Connor questioned.   
Jude didn’t reply for some time and Connor instantly regretted every decision he had ever made in his entire life.  
“Okay.”  
Connor simply looked at Jude. Two syllables. That’s all it took for Connor’s heart to completely flatline.  
“Should we go somewhere more private?” Connor heard Jude ask. Everything seemed so unreal, but Connor felt himself nodding, and could not help but follow closely behind Jude as he walked his way across the bar, into the male restroom.  
Jude walked into a stall and Connor stood for a second outside of it, before Jude pulled him in and shut the door. Jude turned back slowly to look at Connor, and Jude’s dark eyes were all Connor needed to see before he had crashed his lips onto Jude’s.  
Every second of anticipation was worth it, Connor thought as he was finally kissing Jude. They kissed each other with more passion than they had ever done when they had dated each other years before, and Connor couldn’t help but feel Jude’s hands on his hips and Jude’s body so close to his own as they kissed each other. The two of them were anything but stationary, moving around to get a better angle to kiss each other with, trying to fill a necessity that had always been there for them.  
They had been in the stall, making out, for an unknown amount of time (Connor felt like it had to have been longer than half an hour, but he wasn’t sure) when their lips finally disconnected for more than a few seconds. Their faces were still close to each other, Connor taking his time as he examined each freckle that decorated Jude’s face.  
Jude reached out to touch Connor’s cheek, a gesture that brought made Connor’s cheeks flame up.   
“I’m so happy that Evan’s gone,” Connor found himself whispering.  
Jude frowned. “Don’t even mention him. I’m so happy that I have you now.”  
Connor smiled at that. “I have you.”  
“You’ve got me,” Jude said, smiling back.   
They continued caressing each other for a few moments before Jude asked Connor a question.  
“What are we now?”  
Boyfriends, Connor felt forming on the tip of his tongue. But then he remembered what job he had. He remembered that no one in the baseball industry knew that he was gay. He remembered what it felt like when he was boyfriends with Jude forever ago, hearing the slurs used against the otherwise happy couple.  
So Connor hesitated. And Jude noticed.  
Jude cleared his throat before quickly disentangling himself from Connor. Before Connor could reach out to him, or even say anything to him, Jude had opened up the stall and had left Connor alone in the public bathroom, cursing himself for not telling Jude that Connor was his, forever, whether the public was aware of it or not.


	10. Chapter Ten

Connor stood in the stall for a few minutes, looking at where Jude had left for as long as he possibly could before another man walked into the bathroom and shot Connor a worried glance. Connor quickly fled the room, and looked around the main section of DeAngelo’s for Jude. He couldn’t find him. Connor ran outside, hoping to catch a trace of the man he wanted more than anyone else, but the roads were empty and quiet. Jude was gone.  
Connor walked back home, not bothering to say goodbye to Reggie. With every step Connor felt the weight of what had happened pile onto him more and more, and by the time he had reached the apartment tears were freely falling down his face. He couldn’t believe that Jude had this much power over how Connor felt, but now that Connor was trapped in Jude’s grip, he doubted he could ever get out of it.  
So the next few days, Connor called Jude on his phone as many times as he possibly could. Jude never picked up. Connor debated with himself if he should go over to Jude’s apartment to try to force the other man to talk to him, but that strategy seemed a bit too forceful for Connor to like. So he kept on calling Jude, hoping to hear anything but the automated voice message that informed him, once again, that he should leave a message and hang up.   
The fourth day after the kiss, Connor found himself at baseball practice. Reggie had been talking to him about how Piper had invited him over to her place that night, but Connor didn’t pay much attention to him. His bad attention span cost him at practice, however, when he consistently missed catching the pitches thrown at him. Coach Fletching had been unimpressed, and as a consequence, Connor found himself staying after practice to run laps for about half an hour before he was cleared to leave.  
The locker room was completely empty, and Connor took his time as he went to the showers and put on his regular clothes. When he checked his phone before he left, he noticed that it had been an hour since practice had finished. Connor sighed, but knowing that it wasn’t like he had any plans that night anyways, he didn’t feel too bad.  
He started to walk outside, and was putting his earphones in when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He closed his eyes and internally sighed before looking at whoever had tapped him; it wasn’t uncommon for a fan or two to hang out after practices for autographs, but Connor didn’t feel like talking to anyone. He looked up.  
Well, Connor didn’t feel like talking to anyone but him.  
“Jude,” Connor spurted out, pulling his earphones out. “Jude.” He mentally scolded himself for repeating the man’s name, but Connor was so shocked at seeing him in the first place.  
“Hey,” Jude said softly.  
“What are you doing here?” Connor asked, looking around as if Jude was there to see someone else that Connor hadn’t noticed yet.  
“I was actually wondering if I could talk to you,” he replied, looking into Connor’s eyes.  
Connor swallowed. “Sure,” he said, his voice tight. “Yeah, we can talk.”  
“Great,” Jude said. “Should we go to my apartment?”  
Connor nodded in agreement, and walked next to Jude as the two of them went to his apartment.   
Connor wanted to break the silence during the walk, but he couldn’t think of anything to say. He didn’t want to mention the kiss, because he was afraid that he’d get radio silence from Jude for another few days. Connor didn’t feel brave enough to reach out for Jude’s hand, and Jude seemed focused on what was in front of him, so Connor couldn’t bring himself to break Jude’s concentration.  
Jude made twists and turns down random streets, and Connor realized that he had never been to Jude’s apartment before, he just knew the address thanks to Taylor. He put his trust in Jude as they walked through the shadier part of town, before coming to a small apartment building right next to a little grocery store. He followed Jude as he walked up two flights of stairs before unlocking a door, and before Connor had fully processed what was happening, he was in Jude’s apartment.  
The first thing that Connor noticed were the pictures on the wall in the living area they had walked into. It had been forever since Connor had seen anyone else in the Adams Foster family, and he was secretly delighted to catch glances of Jude’s four siblings and two mothers, now looking older than he remembered them being. He turned to face Jude, who was closing the door, and he noticed the giant pride flag that was hung up on the back of the door.  
“Nice flag,” Connor said in the most genuine tone he could muster.  
Jude looked at him for a moment before biting his lip and looking at the floor. “Thanks,” he said, before looking back at Connor.   
Connor gulped. There was no way Connor could ignore the way he felt whenever Jude was focused on him.  
“I wanted to talk to you about what happened at DeAngelo’s,” Jude said, his voice sounding smaller than usual. Connor felt his face redden, and he prepared himself for the criticism that he thought he deserved, when Jude surprised him with his words.  
“I’m sorry,” Jude whispered, and Connor had to blink before he processed what Jude had said. He was sorry? For what?  
“I shouldn’t have left you alone like that, I shouldn’t have ignored all of your calls after I left you, and I’m so sorry, Connor.”  
Connor hated how he detected guilt in Jude’s voice. He wanted to Jude to be happy, so he needed to say something.  
“It’s all right, Jude. I’m sorry that I can’t be public with you.”  
Jude was silent for a few moments before he took a few steps closer to Connor. “Why not?” he asked.  
Connor looked at the giant pride flag and gathered his courage. “Nobody on the baseball team knows that I’m gay,” he admitted. “And I know that it’s become more acceptable within society nowadays, but I’m terrified of what they could say if they knew, how they could treat me if they knew.” Connor swallowed. “It’s stupid, I know.”  
He couldn’t meet Jude’s eyes as he felt tears threaten to fall out of his own. To his surprise, Jude stepped even closer to Connor before reaching out to place a hand on Connor’s shoulder.  
“It’s not stupid,” he said softly. “I understand.”  
That was truly all that Connor could hope for. Someone to understand, someone who had been in his place before. Connor lifted one of his own hands up to lay over Jude’s on Connor’s shoulder, before sniffing and finally meeting Jude’s eyes with his own.  
Jude’s eyes were dark with something that Connor couldn’t detect. Jude swiped his tongue over his bottom lip quickly, and Connor gulped in response.   
He wanted to tell Jude that he wanted to be with him. Connor felt the words catch in his throat, and he looked pleadingly at Jude, before only managing to say, “Jude.”  
Everything was clear with that one word. Jude understood what Connor meant, and Connor could tell. Jude’s hand tightened on his shoulder, and he gave Connor the tiniest of all nods. Before Connor could over analyze every single thing about the situation, he moved a few more inches closer to Jude to meet his lips with his.  
This kiss wasn’t as needy as the one before had been. The passion was still in it, but it was slower and Connor felt Jude’s hand move from his shoulder to cup his face. The kiss was nowhere near as long as the previous one, but it held just as much meaning.  
Jude pulled away first, although his face didn’t move very far from Connor’s. His fingers still roamed Connor’s face, although his eyes never strayed from Connor’s eyes. Connor smiled lightly before moving to kiss Jude’s cheek.   
He felt Jude respond by smiling, and Connor felt pure bliss. This was what he wanted. Jude was who he wanted. Nothing had ever felt as right as that moment.  
Eventually, the two of them found themselves out of each other’s grasp, and Jude went to grab waters for the both of them as Connor explored the apartment. He discovered his own face on the wall of pictures that Jude had. He smiled as he looked at it; it was taken before they had begun dating, back when they were only best friends, that one time that Jude had convinced Connor that they should have a picnic in Jude’s backyard. Callie had walked outside by pure coincidence and took a photograph of the two of them together, claiming that she was working on her photography skills. Connor smiled at the memory and reached out his hand to brush over his and Jude’s much younger faces.  
“What are you looking at?” Connor heard Jude ask as he came back with the waters.  
“You have this?” Connor asked, turning his head to look at Jude, hand still on the picture.  
Connor saw Jude blush a little bit. “I do have that,” he responded, before handing Connor a water.  
Connor thanked him and looked back at the picture. “I don’t know why I wanted to hang out with such a nerd,” he said, in a joking manner. Jude laughed and lightly punched his shoulder.  
“I don’t know why I wanted to hang out with such a dick,” he said back, and Connor scrunched his eyebrows together and pulled his neck back slightly before sending Jude a look that made Jude laugh harder than before.  
“Well okay then,” Connor responded, before moving his gaze to the other photographs on the wall.  
After a few moments, Jude spoke, his voice once again serious. “It’s getting pretty late,” he said, capturing Connor’s attention.  
Connor sighed. “Oh, right. Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, or at least in a few days? If that’s okay?”  
Jude nodded, but then asked, “Unless you want to sleep over?”  
Connor was lucky that he hadn’t opened up his water, because if he had had anything in his mouth at that exact moment, he would have spit it out. “What?”  
“Nevermind,” Jude said, obviously embarrassed. “Forget I said anything.”  
Connor nodded. “Well, if you were ever to say anything,” he replied, voice small yet a bit flirty, “then I hope you know that my answer would’ve been yes.”  
Connor kept his eyes on Jude as Jude began to get a small, mischievous smile on his face. “Well in that case,” he replied, taking a few steps to get to Connor before tugging on his shirt and pulling in Connor close enough for a kiss.   
The two of them kissed for awhile, eventually making their way onto Jude’s couch. Jude had just playfully tickled Connor’s sides while they were kissing when a ringtone started to sound off.  
Connor groaned. It was his phone.  
He was going to ignore it and continue to kiss Jude when he felt Jude push him off of him. “Go get it,” Jude insisted, and although Connor shot him a sour look, he listened. Connor was determined not to ever be on Jude’s bad side ever again.  
Connor glanced at the caller ID, and became instantly confused when he saw that it was Reggie.   
“Hello?” Connor asked, answering. Jude sat up on the couch and looked over at Connor.  
“Connor the catcher,” he heard Reggie respond. Something was off. “Quite the catch, aren’t you, little Connie.”   
Connor rubbed his temple. “Are you drunk, Reggie?”  
“Did you know that Piper just kicked me out? Like out. She kicked me out.”  
Connor decided he didn’t need a verbal answer to his question, as he could tell that Reggie had been drinking. “Look, Reggie, I’m very sorry about that but I don’t know what I can do for you.” In all honesty, with Jude looking at him from the couch like that, he desperately wanted to go back to what he was doing only a few minutes ago.  
“I can’t walk down the streets at night, Connor,” Reggie belted out through the phone. “I’m just a boy, Connor.”  
Connor groaned. “Reggie, I can’t come get you.” Jude sent him a curious look and stood up, walking over to Connor. So much for getting back to the couch.  
“Bro, I’m right by your apartment, I swear.”  
“I’m not at my apartment.”  
“I’m on, like, Second Street.”  
Connor frowned. “Reggie, my apartment isn’t even near a Second Street.”  
To his surprise, Jude cut in. “Maybe not yours, but mine is.”  
Connor cupped his hand over the speaker of the phone to talk to Jude, as Reggie attempted to form coherent sentences about exactly where he was. “Are you saying I should go get him?”  
“Is he okay?”  
“He’s drunk and his girlfriend kicked him out.”  
“Yeah, I think you should go get him.”   
Connor frowned, deeply disappointed that he couldn’t stay in the apartment with Jude. “I don’t want to leave you,” he said, looking at the floor.  
Jude was silent for a second, before saying, “What if I come to?”  
Connor’s eyebrows raised. “For real?”  
Jude nodded. Connor removed his hand from the speaker, and asked Reggie, “All right, where are you right now?”  
-!-!-!-!-!-  
Reggie was completely wasted, leaning on both Jude and Connor as they walked him back to his apartment.   
“You know what?” Reggie slurred. “You know what?”  
“What,” Connor said, turning for a split second to look at his teammate before looking back in front of him.  
“Girls suck,” Reggie muttered, and Connor smiled as he heard Jude laugh softly.   
“Connor,” Reggie belted out, practically making Connor jump out of his skin at the volume.  
“Yeah?”  
“Never date a girl,” he said. Connor bit his lip in order to keep from smiling too big.   
“Reggie, I promise you that I will never date a girl,” he said, making Jude laugh even louder. Reggie noticed this.  
“Man, what are you on, being so happy and shit?”  
“High on life,” Jude replied, laughing even harder. “I’m just high on life.”  
Reggie ranted for the entire walk to his apartment, and when they finally got him to their doorstep, he stopped Connor and looked him deep into the eye.  
“How do you avoid the deceptive charms of women,” he asked, completely serious. His eyes were wild, and although Connor wanted to do nothing else but laugh again (like Jude was doing), he kept a straight face, focusing his attention on Jude.  
“I’ve got someone in my life already,” he admitted, feeling safe because Jude was near him. “I’m not looking for anyone else.”  
Jude caught his eye and smiled, and Connor swallowed hard before smiling back. Reggie, completely oblivious to what was happening, put a toothy grin on his face before patting Connor hard on the back.   
“Good for you, man,” he said loudly. “Good for you.”  
Connor shook his head at his friend. “Good night, Reggie.”  
Reggie took the hint and walked into his apartment. “Good night, Connor. Good night, high on life guy.”  
“Jude,” Jude replied. “It’s Jude.”  
“Of course it is,” Reggie replied. “Saint of hopeless causes, right? Makes sense because you’re hanging out with Connor.”  
“Hey!” Connor exclaimed in fake hurt as Jude laughed. “Reggie, how could you?”  
Reggie shrugged his shoulders before saying his final goodbye. Connor looked at Jude, who was already looking right at him.  
“Back to my apartment?” Jude asked.  
Connor smiled. “Back to your apartment.”  
They started to walk back, and less than a minute into the walk, Connor didn’t hesitate at all as he reached out for Jude’s hand.


	11. Chapter Eleven

It didn’t take long before Jude and Connor reached Jude’s apartment. As Jude went to unlock his door, Connor felt his phone buzz, and he checked to see who he got a text from. Seeing that it was from Daria, he opened it.  
Hey Connor, just wanted to check up on you seeing as it’s early in the morning and you still haven’t come home. Text me if you need me or anything at all! Let me know that you’re okay. xoxo Daria  
Jude cleared his throat, and Connor saw that he had unlocked his door. Despite wanting nothing more than to join Jude inside, he felt the worry crawling within Daria’s text, and he knew that he should head back to his place.  
“Connor?” Jude said, cocking his head to the side.   
“Daria’s getting worried, I should probably head back,” he muttered, looking at Jude. Jude nodded, and reached toward Connor to cover him in a hug.   
“Goodnight, Connor,” Jude said, pulling back. He was almost back in the doorway to his apartment when Connor reached out for his hand and pulled him back.  
“I wanted a goodnight kiss,” Connor said, grinning at Jude as the other man laughed and closed the distance between their lips. It was short and sweet, but it was one of the best feelings Connor had ever experienced, because he had felt the laughter on Jude’s lips.  
“Goodnight, Connor,” Jude said again, this time walking into the apartment.  
“Goodnight, Jude,” Connor said with a smile on his face, watching Jude smile at him once more before shutting the door.  
On the short walk back to his own apartment, Connor never lost the giant smile that overtook his face, and every now and then he would let out a giddy laugh and look up at the night sky as he wondered just how he had gotten so lucky. Jude was so good, so perfect, and it felt completely unreal that after ten years, the two of them were back together again, with Connor feeling like this, like he was the luckiest man on Earth.  
When Connor finally unlocked the door, he walked inside his apartment to find Daria asleep on top of Taylor on the couch. He smiled at the picture of the two women, before walking over and shaking Daria awake.  
“Hey,” she said, rubbing her eyes awake. “What time is it?”  
Connor looked at his phone. “Almost one.”  
“Where were you?” Daria asked, yawning as she stood up.  
“With Jude,” he answered simply.   
Daria smiled at patted him on the shoulder. “You go, buddy,” she said, before looking down at Taylor and smiling even wider. “Look at this nerd.”  
Connor let out a small laugh. “She’s your nerd.”  
Daria bit her lip and let out a small snort. “She’s my nerd,” she repeated, voice soft.  
Connor stood there, watching Daria watch Taylor, for a few moments before he decided that he should leave.  
“I’m going to go to my room,” he said, motioning toward it. “Goodnight, Daria.”  
“Goodnight, Connor,” she said, briefly looking up at him leaving before she bent down to wake up her girlfriend. Connor was secretly glad that he had left before Taylor had woken up, as he was very familiar with how sour she could be when her sleep was interrupted.  
Connor snuggled underneath his covers and could not figure out how to stop smiling. He closed his eyes, and after a very long time, sleep finally came to greet him.  
-!-!-!-!-!-  
Connor woke up to the sound of The Spice Girls, and he reluctantly lifted himself out of bed to see who was calling him. He frowned when he saw that it was his father, but he picked up anyways. Everything would just get messy for him if he ignored his father.  
“Hello?” Connor said, as if he didn’t know who was calling him.  
“Hey Connor,” he heard his father respond. “Do you have any plans for today?”  
“Just practice, but that starts around noon,” Connor said. “Why?”  
“Do you want to grab breakfast?”  
Connor glanced at the clock on his phone; he had three hours until practice started. “Sure. Where should I meet you?”  
Twenty minutes later, Connor was dressed and at a small café, watching his father walk in and come up to him. They greeted each other, and proceeded to make small talk about the weather and other things before Adam asked Connor about how his day had been the day before.  
“I had practice, and then I hung out with Jude,” Connor said, taking a sip of his coffee as he tried not to notice Adam’s initial reaction; shock, then a flash of mistrust, then general confusion.  
“Jude?” he questioned, looking at Connor. “What did you do with Jude?”  
Connor must have been wrong to assume that Adam was okay with Jude, after the commotion made when Adam apologized to him. He took his time putting his coffee back down as he wondered how much he should say; then, in a burst of pride, he realized that he shouldn’t have to lie to his father in order to try to make their relationship smooth.  
“We’re seeing each other,” he said simply, watching his father out of the corner of his eye.  
“Seeing each other,” Adam repeated, trying to understand. “As in?”  
“As in nothing official yet,” Connor said. “But… we’re together.”  
Adam nodded slowly. “Does your team know?”  
Connor shook his head. Reggie had been drunk and oblivious; no one else really know who Jude was.  
“Connor, if I were you, I’d keep this to yourself for now.”  
Connor glared at his father. He thought that Adam had finally apologized to Jude, he thought that Adam had finally accepted that Connor was never going to date a lady for the rest of his life. His father seemed to sense this, and he was quick to defend himself.  
“Listen, I’m not telling you to not see him,” he insisted, eyes pleading with his son. “I don’t care that you’re dating a Jude instead of a Judith, Connor, I really don’t. I just worry about what the other guys on the team will think if they find out.”  
Connor folded up his napkin and flipped open his wallet, pulling out enough money to cover everything. “Let me worry about that, all right?”  
“Connor!” Adam exclaimed, trying to get his son to stop.  
“I’ve got to leave now,” Connor responded, pushing in his chair. “I’ll talk to you later, dad.”  
He heard his father call his name a few more times, but Connor was done talking with him for the moment. He opened up the door and walked out of the café.  
-!-!-!-!-!-  
It was now two in the afternoon, and Connor was at baseball practice. His conversation with his father had been stuck in his head for the entire day, so before he went to practice he called up Jude and made some plans with him for afterwards so that he could potentially get some peace of mind. Knowing Adam, the words that his father had spoken to Connor hadn’t been hostile at all. Connor could even see where he was coming from. But that’s why Connor felt bothered by them. Because he could completely see the impact that his sexuality could have on his career; he could see slurs being used against him by players on opposing teams, he could see his contract ending with some meaningless excuse as to why, he could see his passion of baseball end professionally all because he couldn’t have both the perfect job and the perfect man. It was getting to his head, and Connor needed practice to be over so that he could go to Jude’s apartment and get a long hug from him.  
“What’s up with you today, Stevens?” Coach Fletching repeated for the thousandth time that day. Connor wasn’t doing too well in practice and it was painfully obvious.  
“Sorry, Coach,” Connor weakly replied.   
Coach Fletching sighed. “What’s with all of you guys today?” he yelled, looking at the whole entire team. A group of them were sitting down in the middle of the field ‘discussing strategy’, which pretty much meant bragging about women they banged the previous night. Reggie, the poor soul, was looking awfully hungover as he tried to look productive out around third base.   
Nobody answered him, and so Coach Fletching called it a day. Connor hid his grin from his coach, but as soon as he left, he couldn’t help but feel it take over his face.  
Connor had taken a long shower when he walked off of the field, because he wanted to smell somewhat decent for when he saw Jude. He sent Jude a text telling him to expect him a bit earlier than planned, and he focused on nothing else besides the excitement he felt about seeing the love of his life.  
Unfortunately, Reggie noticed.  
“Hey big man, what’s up with that wicked grin?”  
Connor sent him a sassy look; one that he vaguely remembered Jude teaching him. “Wicked? Really, Reggie? What era are you from?”  
“My language is my language,” he responded, and Connor just looked at him for a moment before shaking his head.  
“Seriously, Connor, what are you up to tonight?”  
“I’m just going to hang out with a friend,” he said. That was kind of honest.  
“A friend, huh?” Reggie said, wiggling his eyebrows. “A lady friend?”  
“No,” Connor scoffed. “My guy friend.”  
Reggie looked at him for a brief moment before shifting his eyes downward. “The same friend from last night? What was his name, Jude?”  
It took all of Connor’s self-control not to visibly react to Jude’s name. “Yeah.”   
“Cool,” Reggie said. “Tell him thank you, okay? I owe him one. I also owe you one, Connor. Thanks for having my back last night.”  
“No problem,” Connor replied. “What exactly happened last night with you, anyways?”  
“Some crazy stuff, Connor. That’s all I’m going to say about that.”  
Connor nodded, about to leave, when Reggie decided to elaborate.  
“Turns out that Piper thought we weren’t in an exclusive relationship. And I’ve been faithful to her, even though I’ve had plenty of opportunities to stray, but one dude from the soda factory looks at her for more than two seconds and wham-- he’s in my bed.”  
Connor winced, feeling sorry for his friend. “Sorry, Reggie.”  
“It’s okay. Better now without her, I guess.”  
“Wait,” Connor said, remembering something. “Didn’t you say that she kicked you out?”  
“I did,” Reggie said, nodding his head. “She didn’t think it would be a big deal if she slept with anyone else, as long as she didn’t do it more than two times with the same person, and I thought it did, and I told her that, and we started screaming and yelling at each other until eventually she kicked me out.”  
Connor nodded slowly. He was at a loss for what to say.  
“Look man, I’m fine. She’s fine. Everyone’s fine, don’t look so baffled. Go be with your man friend,” Reggie said.   
Connor froze at the phrase ‘man friend’, but nothing seemed amiss with Reggie and he didn’t want to make a big deal out of it if Reggie was truly oblivious. A few seconds went by and Connor let out a deep breath, before leaving the locker room and calling out a goodbye to Reggie, who was the last person in the room.  
Finally, he could see Jude. Connor took a few steps out of the stadium, trying his best to untangle some headphones he had previously stuffed into his baseball bag, completely not looking at where he was going or what was around him.  
And then Connor got punched in the face.


	12. Chapter Twelve

A burst of pain shot through Connor’s left cheek, and he stumbled backwards. Tenderly, he brought up his hand to touch the bruising piece of skin, before ripping out his earbuds and preparing to deal with the rabid fan who must have done this. Connor was about to look at the attacker when he was hit again, much harder this time, in the ribcage.  
Connor fell to the ground and yelled out in surprise. This was the last thing he had expected on the way to Jude’s.  
He scrambled to get up to actually face his attacker, but the task was hard as he kept on being kicked at and hurt by the thrown punches. Connor groaned loudly in frustration, and then in pain when the kicks started to be aimed at the exact same spot on his back.  
And then, almost as quickly as it started, it was over.  
Connor heard muffled sounds, but he couldn’t fully process what was happening because he hurt so badly. After a few moments passed, he found himself turning over as he heard a slightly familiar voice yell, “Homewrecker!”  
Sure enough, Connor recognized Evan. He also recognized why Evan had stopped punching him; Reggie was holding him down on the ground, a tight grip on the collar of his tee-shirt.  
With unsteady feet, Connor stood up. Evan continued to yell.  
“You steal my boyfriend from me and then pretend like I don’t exist in the first place? Fuck you, Connor Stevens. Fuck you.”  
Connor’s face remained blank as Evan continued yelling at him from the ground. Reggie looked up at Connor as if to ask if he should start hurting the livid man, but Connor shook his head. So far, Evan looked as if he was in an okay state. He had a scrape on his arm, but it looked like it was the product of being forcefully pulled away than an actual fight. For this, Connor was grateful for Reggie. Connor didn’t want to hurt Evan, because he knew that the man was such a large part of Jude’s life for so long.  
“Two years, Connor. Jude was with me for two years. And all of a sudden you swoop in, his childhood sweetheart that broke his heart, and you decide that two years is nothing to those few months you had together years ago.”  
The words stung, but Connor brushed them off. Evan seemed to have a lot more to say to him.  
“Jude was mine and you ripped him away. But don’t worry, he’ll be back to me eventually, because he loved my dick so much--”  
It was at this moment when Reggie pulled Evan back up off the ground, and pushed his back into a wall. Connor paled, but only for a moment. He had a situation he needed to deal with before he could think too much about Evan’s words.   
“You fucker, shut your damn mouth,” Reggie was saying as Evan was held against the wall.  
“Reggie,” Connor whispered, trying to get the attention of his friend.  
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” Reggie asked angrily. “Seriously?”  
“Reggie,” Connor repeated, a little bit louder. Evan was staring down Connor, too scared or too furious to pay much attention to his much bigger friend.  
“You decide that you can attack this man in a very public place about a very private matter? What the hell is wrong with you?”  
Reggie shoved him harder against the wall, hatred clear on his face, and Evan let out a noise full of pain.  
“Reggie,” Connor said, loud enough for Reggie to finally clearly hear him. “Let him go.”  
Without taking his grip off of Evan, Reggie looked back at Connor. “Are you being serious right now?”  
“Yeah,” Connor said, nodding. “Let him go, Reggie. Please.”  
Sighing, Reggie took his hands off of Evan. Evan fell down slightly, so that his feet finally completely touched the floor, before he took steps closer to Connor. Reggie cut him off.  
“I may not be able to hurt you,” Reggie said in a low voice, “but I can still kill you.”  
Evan didn’t make another move toward Connor, and Reggie backed off a bit.  
“Evan, go home,” Connor said, eyes trying to beg the other man to leave. “I never based my actions off of ways that I could specifically hurt you.”  
“But you did,” Evan cried out, and it was then when Connor could clearly hear all of the hurt in Evan’s voice. “You did hurt me.” Evan’s voice caught in his throat, and Connor was sure that the other man was about to cry. If he hadn’t had any personal interest in the matter, Connor was pretty sure that he’d be crying, too.  
“I’m sorry,” Connor said, as genuinely as possible. “I didn’t mean to.”  
Evan snorted, tears beginning to become visible on his face. “But you did.”  
Connor took cautious steps towards Jude’s ex, and, as soon as he deemed that it was safe to do so, he reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. “Go home,” he muttered, so only Evan could hear him.  
Evan sent him another look, this time not of anger, but of a hesitant sadness. He brushed away the tears on his face and shook of Connor’s hand, before blinking emotion off of his face and walking away.  
Connor stood stationary for a few moments, wondering what Reggie would do. If he would call him the awful words he was terrified of being called, if he would walk away without a word and pretend to have witnessed nothing at practice the next day, if he would simply shake his head at Connor and call him weak.  
Reggie did none of those things. Instead, he shocked Connor by stepping closer to him and wrapping him in a hug.  
The hug was awkward for the both of them, but Connor made an effort to pretend that it was more comforting than uncomfortable. Shortly after it was over, Reggie blushed and looked away, before saying, “Stevens, you know I’d do anything for you, but I’m straight.”  
Connor felt his face turn into the same color and temperature as lava. “Reggie, I know, don’t worry--”  
“Oh, no, sorry,” Reggie said, before looking at the ground. “So… Jude, huh?”  
“Yeah, Jude,” Connor breathed, concentrating on Reggie’s facial expressions. So far, so good.  
“You two are… together?”  
“Yeah,” Connor admitted quietly.   
Reggie pressed his lips together. Connor prepared for the worst, and closed his eyes.  
“Cool.”  
Connor couldn’t have heard right. Slowly, he opened up his eyes again. “What?” he asked.  
“Good for you, Connor,” Reggie said. “I can’t believe I didn’t catch onto all of that earlier.”  
“Sorry,” Connor said, trying to make Reggie feel less ignorant about the entire situation. Now that Connor knew that his friend was okay with his sexuality, he felt like he should be apologetic about not telling him earlier.  
Reggie seemed to catch onto this. “Don’t worry about it,” he said, “sometimes I’m just a little too caught up in myself to notice what’s happening with other people.” Connor noticed that Reggie was smiling, so Connor smiled back.  
“Where are you headed to now?” Reggie asked.  
“To Jude’s, actually,” Connor admitted, face reddening slightly.  
Reggie laughed. “All right, lover boy. Go have fun with your man.”  
Connor chuckled and waved goodbye, beginning to walk away until he remembered what Reggie now had the power to do. “Wait!” Connor called out, frantically turning back to where Reggie was, hoping that he hadn’t moved.  
He hadn’t. Thank God.  
“Yeah?” Reggie asked curiously.  
“Could you… not tell anyone else on the team about this?” Connor said, the request rushing out of his lips before he could put it in a less blunt way.  
“No problem,” Reggie immediately responded, and Connor relaxed. “I’ll keep quiet until you tell me I say anything,” he said, smiling at his teammate. Connor smiled at him, nodded, and started walking to Jude’s apartment again.   
-!-!-!-!-!-  
“What happened to your face?”  
Connor smiled slightly at the very obvious worry both in Jude’s voice and on Jude’s face.  
“Stop smiling, Connor, you’ve got bruises and you shouldn’t be making them worse.”  
Connor smiled more at that, as Jude caressed Connor’s face before giving him a look that clearly indicated that he was annoyed, but Connor didn’t mind. Jude loved him, Connor knew that more than anything else.  
“You’re coming inside and putting ice on your face, and we’re not going anywhere,” Jude insisted, dragging him inside of his apartment.   
Connor resisted as much as he could. “Jude, I already made reservations at a restaurant, come on, my face isn’t that bad, let’s just go.”  
“No,” Jude said. He sat Connor down on the couch and started to walk towards the kitchen, but Connor soon got up and followed him.  
“Jude, I’m okay, honestly,” Connor insisted.  
“Who did this to you?” Jude asked, taking a second away from his scavenging for ice to look up at Connor. Connor shrugged, and Jude grabbed the ice from his freezer and suddenly moved so that he was looking straight into Connor’s eyes. “Just tell me.”  
Just tell me. Jude was completely aware of the effect of those three words on Connor, he thought. Connor frowned, before slowly taking the ice from Jude and hoping Jude would just forget everything.  
“Who hurt you, Connor?”  
“Nobody that will do it again,” Connor tried, pressing the ice against his face.  
“Connor.”  
“Fine, I’ll tell you only if you agree that we can go out afterwards,” Connor said, looking at Jude as if he had just won the universe.   
Jude groaned. “That’s not fair, you shouldn’t go out like this.”  
“Okay,” Connor said. “Then I guess you’ll just never know.”  
Jude groaned even louder. “How about a compromise?”  
Connor narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “What compromise?”  
“Where were you planning to take me after dinner?”  
Connor blushed. “Back to my place.”  
He smiled slightly as he caught the blush on Jude’s face.   
“Oh,” Jude said, in a state of shock. Connor tried his best to hide his grin. “Well, then, ummmm…”  
Connor gave Jude a few moments to regain his trail of thought, but after it became apparent that Jude was lost in his own thoughts, Connor cleared his throat.  
“You were saying?”  
“Why don’t we just skip dinner and go to your place?” Jude said. Connor choked up on himself a bit, and Jude shook his head rapidly as he realized how his words sounded. “No, no, I meant-- like-- God, Connor, stop laughing at me.”  
But Connor couldn’t stop laughing, and soon Jude became less and less embarrassed and more and more amused.   
“Seriously, stop,” Jude said, though at this point he had a wide grin on.  
“Sorry,” Connor said, before biting his lips together.  
“But how about we just go to your place, eat something there, and then hang out? That way you don't have to show off the bruise in public yet,” Jude said in earnest.  
“Sure,” Connor said. “Come on, let’s go.”  
Jude gave him a slight smile before reaching for his hand. Together, they walked to Connor’s apartment, hands swaying and mouths smiling as conversation flowed naturally between them.  
-!-!-!-!-!-  
“Hey, you never told me who punched you,” Jude said as he hung out in Connor’s kitchen. Connor had gone through his fridge to find that he had the ingredients to make tacos, so the duo decided to go with that for dinner.  
“Do you really want to know?” Connor asked sincerely.  
He could tell that Jude caught onto his tone, as his… boyfriend? special friend? date mate? was silent for awhile. “Yeah, I do,” he answered quietly. Connor knew he had to listen to him now.  
He took a deep breath, preparing for Jude’s reaction. “Evan.”  
It was an immediate response. Jude’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, his eyes flicked up at Connor’s in rage, and he was opening his mouth and getting ready to say something when Connor interrupted him.  
“Forget about him, it’s all in the past now.”  
And to Connor’s surprise, Jude nodded away his anger and didn’t say anything else.  
The meat for the tacos had been completely cooked within twenty minutes, and Connor tried to lay out all of the ingredients in a fancy manner. Jude commented on it, and Connor blushed, but smiled at him. Then, in a last minute surprise for Jude, Connor reached into the fridge and grabbed a bottle of ketchup.  
Jude’s eyes widened. “How the hell did you remember that?”  
“There are many things that I just can’t forget about you, Jude Adams Foster,” Connor said cheekily, smiling. Jude smiled back at him, and Connor felt what could only be described as pure happiness.  
Over dinner, the two of them spent their time enjoying each other’s company.   
“Hey, where are Daria and Taylor?” Jude asked, a few minutes into their conversation.  
Connor blushed at the memory from earlier in the day, when he asked his two roommates if he could have the apartment to himself that night, and they had both cracked sex jokes at his expense. “They had plans,” he said, busying himself with rearranging the contents of his taco.  
Jude nodded. Thank God he bought that.  
A few more minutes passed, and then Jude brought up a subject that Connor was so incredibly grateful for.  
“Connor?” he said, putting his food down and folding up his napkin. Jesus, he’s so freaking cute, Connor thought to himself.  
“Yeah?”  
Jude fidgeted with the ketchup bottle. Connor immediately recognized his worry.  
“What’s up?” Connor asked, deciding that he was done with his food, too.  
“What are we?” Jude asked in a small voice.  
“Oh,” Connor replied. Wow, what a way to respond. “Oh, well, umm…” Just keeps on getting better. “You know…” He obviously doesn’t know, that’s why he asked you. “Um.”  
Jude bit his lip. Connor finally gathered his words together in his head.  
“Jude, I know that we’ve only been back on for a short time now, but I love you just as much as I did when we were dating ten years ago,” he said. “And right now, I don’t really care what we call ourselves, as long as we’re together.”  
Jude smiled. “And yet you got mad at me when I couldn’t label myself as gay for the longest time.”  
“Hey!” Connor outburst as he began to clear away the dishes. “The past is in the past.”  
"Let it go?" Jude jokingly said, laughing before he joined Connor in unsetting the table. That man and his movie references, Connor thought to himself. He did have fond memories of watching movies like Frozen at Jude’s childhood home, however. After Connor refused to accept his help with the dishes-- It’s my apartment, Jude, go sit down and relax or something-- Connor noticed Jude wandering around the living room for awhile.   
“Hey, do you want to play Monopoly?” Jude asked from a distance.  
Connor smiled as he washed the last dish. Leave it to Jude to find the one board game in the house.  
“Sure,” he responded, placing the dish into the dishwasher before walking back to where Jude was. “Let’s do it.”  
A half an hour later, the two of them were very intensely playing Monopoly. Jude had chosen to play as the car, and Connor selected the top hat, which spawned a number of top jokes that Jude shamelessly told Connor as soon as the selection was over. Connor had also decided to be the banker, and Jude made jokes about him loaning out money in exchange for ‘sexual favors’. Connor’s face had gone crimson as soon as he heard that. Whatever Jude was doing to try to get Connor flustered, it was working.   
But now the flirty vibe had diminished, and the two of them found themselves completely immersed in the game. Being like this brought back memories of the times when Connor would hang out at the Adams Fosters house, feeling as if he was the eighth member of the family. If he wasn’t going completely insane, he could have sworn that he had even played Monopoly with all of them sometime in his past. Smiling at this, Connor informed Jude about his realization.  
Jude gave him a small smile before leaning over to kiss him lightly. As he pulled away, Connor grabbed one of his hands with his own, and held him there for a moment. They looked at each other tenderly for a moment before they went back to the game.  
A few more minutes passed by, and Jude found himself getting a bad card and landing in jail.  
“Shoot,” he said, moving the car across the board. He gave the dice to Connor and looked at him, ready for the next roll.   
Connor paused. “Hey,” he said, failing to continue the rest of his thought.  
Jude raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”  
Knowing that it wouldn’t be as smooth because it had come so late, Connor still attempted to be flirty. “I hear that if you kiss the banker, you can get out of jail for free.”  
“Really,” Jude said, already inching towards Connor.  
Connor just nodded and leaned in closer to Jude. Within seconds, their lips came in contact with each others’, and soon the board game was forgotten beside them.  
Jude’s lips eventually went from Connor’s lips to his neck. Connor’s hands travelled from Jude’s face to his hips. Jude moved so that he was sitting on Connor’s lap, back bent as he planted kisses further and further down Connor’s body. Soon, Connor had pulled back, before grabbing Jude’s hand and dragging him into Connor’s bedroom.  
Connor’s hands were shaky as he removed Jude’s shirt, and Jude sent him a reassuring smile before getting rid of Connor’s shirt. Jude laid down on Connor’s bed before pulling Connor down on top of him, hands searching for his head as he went in for another kiss. They laid there, kissing, each getting more and more comfortable with the closeness they were experiencing, before Connor felt Jude’s hands at the sides of his jeans and Connor couldn’t help but hear his own breath hitch.  
“Are you okay?” Jude asked, hands sliding away with worry.  
Connor looked into Jude’s eyes, seeing nothing but genuine love and care. “Yeah,” he whispered, before using one of his own hands before guiding Jude’s to where they just were.  
Jude looked at him once more. “Are you sure?”  
Connor nodded, and kissed Jude’s neck as everything finally started to come into place.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

It was cold, freezing cold.  
Connor felt soft sheets clumped next to his shirtless chest. He pulled them closer, trying to find a bit a warmth that he could hold onto. His eyes were still closed, but he mentally recognized that he was awake, and before long, memories from the previous night flooded into his head.  
Connor, hands shaky as Jude’s shirt came off. Jude, fingers ticklish as they ran over Connor’s side. The two of them, together after so long, but in such a different way than ever before.  
Connor smiled, before he shifted and placed his hand on the other side of the bed, where he expected to find Jude.   
But Jude wasn’t there.  
Connor’s eyes flew open. He looked down at himself, noting that yes, his clothes were off, so not everything could just be so vividly imagined. Slowly, Connor got up, noting the slight indent that Jude’s body must have left on the other side of the bed, smiling as he saw Jude had left his clothes on the floor next to Connor’s bed. Connor walked over to his dresser and slid on some underwear and jeans before walking out of his room and into the kitchen, where he could smell the thick scent of syrup floating in the air.  
“Where’d you find the pancake mix?” Connor called out, making Jude jump slightly because he hadn’t noticed Connor’s arrival.   
“It was in the cabinet by the fridge,” Jude said, pointing to it. “And you’re welcome for making you one. It’s almost done.”  
Connor walked up to Jude and gave him a kiss on the cheek as Jude fished the freshly made pancake out of the pan. Connor noticed that Jude had already slathered on syrup to his own pancake, but had left the syrup out for him. He prepared the pancake the way he wanted it as Jude sat down at the table.  
Connor came to sit next to Jude, syrup in his hand as he thought that Jude might want to add on some more, and that’s when he noticed it.   
Connor put the syrup down on the table. “I like your shirt.”  
It was a Padres shirt, the first one Connor had been given when he joined the team. It was soft, short-sleeved, and on Jude’s body looking better than it ever had on Connor’s. Jude’s eyes widened and he reached for the syrup, nervously passing it back and forth between his hands.  
“I hope you don’t mind, but I didn’t want--”  
“I don’t need an explanation,” Connor said, waving Jude off. “It’s fine. You’re cute.”  
Connor caught Jude’s blush, and found himself blushing in response. Breakfast passed by quickly and they were too caught up in grinning at each other to notice anything else. Connor was doing the dishes, Jude standing next to him and trying to tickle his sides, when the two of them heard the unmistakable click of the door lock shifting. Before they could fully prepare themselves, Taylor and Daria walked in the door, each carrying a small bag.  
“Connor, Jude,” Taylor said, sparing them only a glance before grabbing Daria’s bag and moving them into her and Daria’s room. Daria, however, was frozen, a small grin on her face, mouth halfway open.   
“Connor,” she drawled, looking between both him and Jude. “What a wonderful guest you’ve brought over.”  
“Hey, Daria,” Jude said, waving to her. Daria waved back slowly, the small smile still on her face. Connor crossed his arms over his body, trying to make himself smaller.   
“Is there something you want to tell me?”  
Connor and Jude looked at each other before Connor responded. “Something like what?”  
“I don’t know, if you guys are boyfriends or not, maybe?”  
Connor sent Jude a questioning glare, and Jude nodded at him. Connor had the widest grin on his face as he said, “Yeah. We’re boyfriends.”  
Daria smiled back as Taylor came back into the room, noticed the syrup still on the table, and groaned.  
“You made pancakes without me?” she asked, looking at Jude. “I’m offended.”  
“Taylor, come on,” Daria whispered to her girlfriend.  
Taylor shot Daria the sassiest face Connor had ever seen on her. He supposed the exaggeration was to take the attention off of Connor and Jude, and for that, Connor was grateful.   
“Daria, you have never had Jude’s pancakes,” she said. “And honestly, you are missing out. Jude, is there any way you could make some more?”  
“Sure,” Jude responded, already going to get out the mix.  
Taylor smiled and started to make small talk with Jude, as Daria went to Connor and whispered in his ear, “Can we talk somewhere else?”  
Connor bit his lip but followed Daria as she went into her room. She closed the door behind Connor and then turned around, looking at him silently for a few minutes before frowning.  
“What happened to your face?” Daria said.  
“What?” Connor asked, genuinely confused.  
“There’s, like, a small bruise on your cheek,” she said, fingers reaching out to pad at it softly.   
“Oh,” Connor said. “Don’t worry about it.”  
Daria nodded. Then proceeded to stay silent for awhile, eyes focused on the ground.  
“What’s up?” Connor asked her. “Is everything okay?”  
“No, yeah, everything’s great,” she responded, looking up at Connor for a brief moment. “I’m happy for you and Jude, that’s really cool, Connor.”  
Connor nodded, but he could hear the distance in her voice, and instantly knew that, even though she must’ve been a bit happy about his good fortune with Jude, something else must have been invading her mind.  
“Are you sure everything's okay?”  
“It’s more than okay, actually,” she responded, before going over to one of her dressers and shifting things around in the first drawer. “I just wanted to ask you what you thought of something.”  
“What?”  
Daria turned back to face Connor, and held up a small diamond ring.   
“This,” she said.  
Connor’s mouth fell open. “You’re going to ask Taylor to marry you?”  
“That’s the plan.”  
“When?”  
“Tonight.”  
“Daria.”  
“Connor.”  
“You guys have only been dating for a short time, and you’ve been living together for way shorter, are you absolutely sure that you want to do this?”  
Daria responded immediately. “I’ve never been so sure of anything else in my entire life.”  
So Connor went up to her and engulfed her in a hug, lifting her slightly up off of the ground and spinning her around. “I’m so happy for you,” he said.  
Daria laughed. “Calm down, she hasn’t even said yes yet.”  
“Maybe not, but don’t you think she will?”  
“I really hope so,” she said sincerely. “Taylor feels like my home, I don’t know what I would do without her.”  
“Dork,” Connor teasingly said, knowing that it would make Daria smile. It did.   
“Whatever,” she said, putting the ring back in the dresser. “Come on, let’s get back to our stupid special people.”  
Connor laughed, but followed her out of the room to the kitchen. Taylor was eating pancakes, but Jude was nowhere in sight.   
“He’s on the phone,” Taylor said simply when Connor asked where he went. “Take a chill pill, Connor.”  
The three of them talked for a little bit, Taylor seemingly excited to go out for lunch at her favorite restaurant, and Connor sent a small side smile to Daria. She blushed, but Taylor didn’t seem to notice.   
Eventually, Jude came back into the room, turning around his phone in his hand.  
“So I’ve got to go,” he said, frowning. “Mom called me, asking if I would be going to brunch at their house today. I completely forgot about it.”  
“Have fun eating after you probably just ate a thousand pancakes,” Taylor said, as she shoveled more of her own pancakes in her mouth.  
“Shut up,” Jude groaned. “I’ll make it work. All the siblings are going to be there, I can’t just show them that I forgot about this. They’ll tease me about it.”  
“I’m sure it’ll all be okay, though,” Connor said, trying to relax Jude a bit.  
Jude smiled back at his boyfriend, before going into Connor’s room, where Connor supposed he was getting dressed in the clothes he wore the night before. He was back before long, at the door with his hand on the knob, before he hesitated and turned to Connor.  
“Do you want to come?” Jude asked.  
“Yeah,” Connor said, nodding his head, really happy that Jude asked him. “Let me go get changed, I’ll be right with you.”  
Before Connor turned away, he caught the smile that flowered onto Jude’s face when he agreed to go. And that made a smile grow on Connor’s face.  
-!-!-!-!-!-  
“Jude, oh, come here,” Lena said, before hugging him. It was only when her head was on Jude’s shoulder when she noticed Connor standing a bit beside her son.  
“Who’s this?” she asked. Connor couldn’t blame her for not recognizing him; he had buffed out a lot, his hair was shorter than it tended to be when he was growing up, and he had grown a few more inches since she had last seen him.  
“Mama,” Jude said, stepping back from her hug. “This is Connor.”  
Connor could see the recognition splash over her face.   
“Oh, Connor,” she said, hesitating for a second before going closer to him to give him a hug, too. Connor hugged her back. “It’s been so long.”  
“It has,” Connor agreed. “I hope you don’t mind me crashing your family brunch.”  
Lena laughed a bit at that. “Don’t you worry about that, Connor. Come on in.”  
She ushered them in, and as they passed through the door, Jude reached for Connor’s hand. Connor could tell that Lena noticed the motion, but she didn’t say anything. Jude led Connor through the house, into the kitchen, where Connor could see Stef and the twins. Mariana was setting the table as Jesus was complaining about one of his coworkers, while Stef was mixing together fruit in a bowl.  
“Maybe Lily would stop annoying you if you actually did any work,” Mariana said. “I mean, you’re not doing any work now.”  
“Okay, enough with the bickering,” Stef said, turning around to face the twins. As she did this, she caught sight of Jude and Connor.  
“Hey, bubba,” she said to Jude. Mariana and Jesus turned to face Jude at this point, but neither of them said anything as they looked at Connor, trying to figure out who he was. Connor looked at Stef, and he could tell that she already knew.  
“Hey, Connor. Long time, no see.”  
Connor waved hello with his free hand as Jesus’s eyes widened and Mariana gasped.  
“Connor?” Mariana asked. “Wow. Look at you. Look at your muscles, oh my god, Connor, you’ve buffed out quite a bit, isn’t that--”  
“Mariana!” Jude exclaimed, effectively cutting her off. “Stop that.”  
Mariana rolled her eyes at her youngest sibling. “Whatever.”  
“So where’s everyone else?” Jude asked his mother.  
Stef pointed upstairs. “Brandon thought that Mama and I have been lonely in the house, so he bought us a fish. He’s upstairs now setting it up, with Callie, Zac and Emma.”  
“Zac and Emma?” Connor asked.  
“Mariana’s husband and Jesus’s girlfriend,” Jude explained.  
“Speaking of significant others,” Jesus said, staring down Connor. “What’s he doing back here?”  
Connor nervously held Jude’s hand even tighter, but Jude ran his thumb over the back of Connor’s hand and everything seemed less scary. “We’re together,” Jude said simply.  
Mariana held back a smile, Stef went back to mixing up her fruit, and Jesus kept on looking at the two men with the most confused expression on his face. After a few moments, it was getting a bit creepy, so Jude tugged on Connor’s hand and motioned with his head that they should go upstairs.  
As Connor climbed the stairs next to Jude, hand still secure in his boyfriend’s hand, he couldn’t help but notice all of the pictures on the wall in the house. It was strange, because everyone had grown up, but Connor hadn’t been there to witness it. He should’ve been there, he bitterly thought to himself. But he reminded himself that he had the present and the future, and he couldn’t see himself ever happily leaving Jude. Not that he had happily left before, but still.  
“I think it’s dead,” a hushed girl’s voice said from behind the door to Stef and Lena’s room.   
“Yeah, shouldn’t it be swimming by now?” another feminine voice asked. Connor recognized that voice. Callie. He noticed that Jude smiled at the sound.  
“I think it’s the stupidest thing ever that you guys got moms a fish,” Jude said, opening up the door and stepping inside. No one immediately turned around to look at him.  
“We did pick out a cool one, though,” a man, Zac?, said, pointing at it. “One of the ones that has the Mickey Mouse face on it. Don’t you think it’s cool?”  
Jude rolled his eyes, before looking at Connor.  
“I don’t know,” he said lightly. “What do you think, Connor?”  
Callie’s head whipped up at the mention of Connor.  
“What the hell are you doing here?” she asked, face incredulous. She noticed how their hands were connected. “What the hell is going on?”  
By this time, the four people in the room had turned around to look at Jude and Connor. Brandon frowned slightly.  
“What happened to Evan?” he asked.  
“We broke up awhile ago,” Jude said, shaking his head. “I thought you knew about that.”  
“Oh,” Brandon responded. “What happened?”  
Jude looked down. “He asked me about Connor, apparently I didn’t say the things he wanted to hear.”  
So that’s why Evan targeted Connor the other day, he thought to himself. He must still be bitter that Jude has stronger feelings for Connor than any other guy.  
“Jude, this is Connor,” Callie said harshly. “The same Connor who left you. The same Connor who broke up with you for no reason.”  
Jude didn’t let his sister’s disapproval get him down. “That was ten years ago, Callie. Everyone did stupid stuff ten years ago, you included. I’ve gotten over it, there’s no reason that you shouldn’t have.”  
Callie glared at Connor for a few moments, but it was otherwise clear that she didn’t want to cross her little brother any more than she already had.   
Zac and Emma introduced themselves to Connor, and he thought that both of them were very pleasant people. Connor was so grateful of the family Jude had now, because he knew the families that Jude had been in when he was much younger, and the support he received now compared to what he got before was tremendous. Thinking about this, Connor looked over at Jude and smiled. He smiled back.  
“Listen, I hate to break up this beautiful moment,” Zac said, “but personally, I am starving. Do you guys want to head back downstairs?”  
They all agreed, and the four others left before Jude and Connor moved an inch. When they were alone, Jude squeezed Connor’s hand.  
“You ready?” he asked.  
“Yeah,” Connor said, smiling at his boyfriend.  
Jude smiled back and gave Connor a quick kiss before the two of them went back downstairs for brunch.  
-!-!-!-!-!-  
“I am so full,” Jude groaned as he walked besides Connor, on the way back to Connor’s place.  
“Nice to meet you, so full,” Connor said, grinning.  
“Connor!” Jude exclaimed, slightly pushing Connor at his bad joke.   
Connor laughed. “Sorry.”  
Jude just shook his head. “Seriously, though, I don’t think I can ever eat again.”  
“Me neither,” Connor agreed, his stomach so full that he probably couldn’t eat a single pea. “The food was really good, though.”  
“It always is,” Jude sighed.  
The two of them kept on walking, Connor getting caught up on the latest of what was happening with each member of the Adams Foster family, and before long they were at the front door of Connor’s apartment. It was later than when Connor thought they would get to the apartment again, not that he minded. As he opened the door, he saw Taylor sitting on the couch, Daria laid out on top of her. When they heard the door open, Daria sat up and both of them looked at Jude and Connor with huge grins on their faces.  
“How was brunch?” Taylor asked.  
Jude looked over at Connor, confused. Connor grinned along with the women, because he knew what must have happened.   
“Brunch was good,” Jude said. A few moments passed of silence. “Okay, what’s up with all of you guys, smiling like that?”  
“Oh, I don’t know,” Taylor said, shaking her head. She raised her left hand to brush her hand away, but Jude didn’t notice the ring that was now on her finger.  
“What?” he asked.  
“No idea,” Taylor said again, twisting the finger around as she looked at Jude.  
Jude remained oblivious. “Seriously, what?”  
Taylor looked at him like he was the stupidest person in the world, and then thrust out her left hand so he could clearly see the ring on her finger. It took him a second, but realization broke on his face and he gasped.  
“You two… Oh my god… Connor, are you seeing this?”  
Connor said that he was, and he gave Jude a kiss on the cheek as Jude kept on freaking out about the ring. Before long, Jude had gone over to Taylor, asking her all sorts of questions about every little detail of the proposal, and Connor moved over to Daria, the two of them watching Jude and Taylor for awhile.  
“Congratulations,” Connor said.  
Daria looked up at him and smiled. “Thanks,” she said. “It feels good, you know?”  
Connor smiled back and nodded. “I’m sure it does.”  
“Us being together for the rest of our lives wasn’t even a question, really,” Daria said, low enough for only Connor to hear. “But it feels good to know that we’re going to be celebrating that. When you love somebody like how I love Taylor, it’s hard to not want to show that love off to everyone, you know?”  
Connor knew. All he wanted to do was tell the world that Jude was his, but since he couldn’t at the moment due to baseball, he stuck with being proud to be with Jude around people it was safe to be proud around. Connor smiled at Daria again before nodding.  
Somehow, he knew that everything would turn out okay. For Connor, for Daria, for Jude and Taylor. Because when the world could seem as strong and safe as it did at that moment, it didn’t seem possible that the happiness could all fade away. So Connor celebrated for Daria and Taylor that night, Jude at his side the entire time, smiling the entire time because he was nothing but excited for the future.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

The future was beautiful.   
Ten beautiful months of pre-wedding bliss had passed by, and suddenly it was the end of May, and Connor found himself in his room, Jude still asleep, naked, in his bed, as Connor focused on his reflection in the mirror as he tightened his bowtie. Daria and Taylor had already left for the beach, where their small wedding was going to take place, right as the sun set on the Pacific Ocean. Connor’s biggest stress at the moment was that for some reason, his bowtie wouldn’t straighten out. He tried to fix it for a solid ten minutes, before he sighed in defeat and decided to wake up Jude in the hope that maybe he could make everything work.  
“Jude,” Connor whined, gently pushing his boyfriend. “I need help.”  
Jude muttered something in response that Connor didn’t catch. Connor decided that, at that moment, he cared more about being next to Jude than how his bowtie looked, so he settled down next to his boyfriend and pulled the covers over the both of them before snaking his arm around Jude. Jude leaned into his touch.  
“Good morning,” Jude whispered, breath tickling Connor’s forearm.   
“You ready for this wedding?” Connor hummed, running his fingers through Jude’s hair.  
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Jude sighed. He burrowed his face into Connor’s side, and Connor was just beginning to forget about the wedding, forget that they ever needed to leave the bed, when the Spice Girls rang out in the room and Connor had to pull himself from Jude’s grip to see who was calling him.   
Connor was confused when he saw who was calling him.  
“Reggie?” he asked when he picked up the phone. “What’s up?”  
“Hey Connor, Coach Fletching is wondering why you weren’t at practice earlier today.” Practice that morning had been from six to nine. Luckily, Connor was able to say that he had a wedding to attend, and he had already told Fletching that he wouldn’t be able to make it. Connor thought he could get away with a few more hours of sleep in the morning before the wedding, but Daria woke him up at seven to help her make flower arrangements before Taylor and her left.   
“I have a wedding to go to today, I told him earlier,” Connor said, confused as to why his coach had forgotten. Fletching had mentioned that his granddaughter's second birthday party was later in the evening, so Connor supposed that he had been too distracted to remember Connor’s excuse.  
“Oh, right,” Reggie responded thickly through the phone. “Your roommates are getting married today, right?”  
“Yeah,” Connor said. He heard movement behind him and he looked over to see Jude getting out of the bed. He still wasn’t wearing anything, and he was smirking at Connor the entire trip on the way to the bathroom, and Connor found himself hearing Reggie speak but not understanding a word of what he was saying.   
Damn Jude and this effect he still has on me, Connor thought. A solid ten months into their relationship and Connor was still captivated by the mere image of Jude wearing nothing but that damn smile that wouldn’t go off of his face.  
Connor found himself able to focus back on what Reggie was saying when he heard the shower start up in the bathroom.  
“...with the big game on Friday and all.”  
“What?” Connor asked. He needed to be retold everything.  
“Damn it, Connor, can you remember anything at all?” Reggie asked, but Connor detected the playfulness in his voice. “The short version of what I said is that everyone seems pretty nervous about the big game on Friday.”  
“Oh,” Connor said. “Well, they shouldn’t be. We’ve been practicing so hard the past few days.”  
“We just didn’t have our wonderful catcher today.”  
Connor cringed a bit. He knew that Reggie didn’t mean it in a rude way, and that his friend wasn’t bothered by his absence, but Connor still felt a bit guilty. “Sorry about that, man.”  
“No big deal, Connor. Enjoy the wedding. Honestly.”   
From anyone else, Connor would’ve been sure that there was sarcasm underlying those words. But this was Reggie, and he was the sweetest person that Connor knew. Jude often joked that the bromance between Connor and Reggie was more intense than their own romantic relationship. Even though they were jokes, and Connor would much rather hang out with Jude than anyone else, including Reggie, Connor felt grateful that he had another person who was always looking out for him.  
While Jude showered, Connor chit-chatted with Reggie. The conversation flowed smoothly between the two men, and Connor found himself laughing as Reggie talked about new strategies he was going to employ when he went out later that day in hopes of picking up a girl.  
“You’re so hopeless,” Connor said, trying his best to hide his laughter from his friend.  
“Not everyone is as lucky as you are, mister soul mate man,” Reggie huffed.  
“Soul mate man?”  
“You’ve got your soul mate already, man,” Reggie said, almost complaining. “Don’t make fun of me as I try to find mine.”  
“Sorry,” Connor murmured, thinking about what Reggie said as he continued to tell Connor about his plans.   
Soul mate. As cheesy as it was, the word seemed to fit Jude.   
Connor got off the phone with Reggie when Jude walked back into the room, his hair wet and a white towel wrapped around the bottom half of his body.  
“You getting ready?” Jude asked, as he went through the bag he had brought over to Connor’s apartment. He fished out a pair of underwear and his dress pants, and Connor had to walk back to the mirror and attempt to straighten his tie again to avoid ogling at his boyfriend.  
“I guess so,” Connor said. He could see Jude quickly dress out of the corner of his eye, but his own damn tie would not even out.  
“Jude, can you help me?”  
“Yeah, what do you need?”  
His boyfriend walked up to him and finally caught sight of the thin piece of fabric on Connor’s neck.   
Jude laughed. “That bowtie is about as straight as you are, Connor.”  
Connor’s face reddened. “Yeah, yeah, okay. Now will you help me out?”  
Jude bit a smile and moved closer. He nudged it a bit to the right and all of a sudden it decided to stay in place.   
“You’re magic, you know that, right?” Connor said, amazed at the smallest of Jude’s feats.  
“If you say so,” he responded.  
After Connor had pulled on his tuxedo jacket, he turned around to face Jude, who was buttoning up his shirt. Connor grinned as he walked up to the other man.  
“Allow me,” he said, replacing Jude’s fingers with his own as he placed them on the buttons. Jude removed his hands, but pushed Connor as soon as he realized that Connor was unbuttoning his work rather than helping him get dressed.  
“Connor,” Jude giggled out. “Come on, we have somewhere to be.”  
“They won’t start a thing without their best men,” Connor whispered as he began to litter kisses on Jude’s neck.  
Jude pushed him completely away this time, although the smile never left his face.  
-!-!-!-!-!-  
“Where were you guys?” Taylor asked, puffing out her chest, although there was no way she could look intimidating in her somewhat fluffy wedding dress.  
“You guys aren’t supposed to see each other!” Connor exclaimed. “The horror, the horror!”  
“Connor, come on, you guys were supposed to be here thirty minutes ago,” Taylor insisted, as Daria wrapped her arms around her fiancée.   
“There was traffic,” Connor weakly said.  
Taylor raised her eyebrows, but before she could say anything, Daria kissed her cheek.   
“It’s our wedding day, love,” she said. “Let’s just pretend that they didn’t think making out was more important than getting to our wedding on time.”  
Jude’s face flushed red, and Connor hid his smile from the wrath of Taylor, who was glaring at the both of them. He knew Daria couldn’t care less that they were late. He was slightly surprised that she knew exactly what had happened, however.  
“We can’t be late to their wedding,” Jude had breathed out, all of his previous work buttoning up his shirt completely undone as he wiggled around underneath of Connor.  
“We won’t be,” Connor insisted, not willing to give up any time with Jude.  
“Just don’t leave any marks.”  
Connor looked over at Jude, not seeing any marks above the collar of his dress shirt. Connor had to hide another smile from Taylor.  
“Best man, you’ve got some explaining to do,” Taylor said, as she dragged Jude away from Daria and Connor without giving him a chance to say goodbye. Daria looked up at Connor and raised an eyebrow at him in a playful way.  
“Traffic?” she asked. “There was traffic on the way to the beach on a Sunday evening?”  
“Driving is unpredictable,” Connor insisted, shrugging his shoulders.   
Daria laughed. “I hope you and Jude had a good time sitting in traffic, then, Connor.” She smirked. She knew. But she also looked as if she didn’t care, so Connor didn’t worry too much about everything. “Come on, best man, you have to come with me and tell me I’m pretty.”  
Daria started to walk towards the small tent that was set up for her, which was only a few feet away from the one set up for Taylor.   
“You look quite pretty today,” Connor said as he followed her. “I like the flowers in your hair.” That was true. They were a pretty yellow color, and contrasted nicely with her hair color.  
“Why thank you, best man,” Daria said, entering the tent and sitting down. She pushed some of her hair off of her shoulder dramatically. “Well, go on.”  
Connor laughed, and the two of them calmly talked to each other as the minutes until the ceremony started flew by. He left the tent when Daria’s father entered, deciding to give the two a few minutes to themselves before her father would be walking her down the makeshift aisle in the sand. He saw Taylor’s father right before he entered Taylor’s tent, and he awkwardly waved at the older man. The man nodded back, also awkwardly, because both were very aware that the last time they had truly seen each other had been when the other man apologized to Connor for shooting him. There wasn’t a social protocol set for how to say hello to a man who once shot you by accident.  
To Connor’s delight, it wasn’t long before Jude stepped out of Taylor’s tent. They waited until Taylor’s mother turned on a boom box at the beginning of the aisle, and then they made their way down it, hands connected, surrounded by not only the families of Daria and Taylor but also Jude’s moms and Connor’s father, who had all shown up at the invite of the two engaged women. Jude let go of Connor’s hand when they reached the end of the aisle, and they stepped away from each other, watching Taylor’s niece and nephew walk down the aisle, the niece throwing flower petals everywhere as the nephew kept a firm grip on the rings. It wasn’t long before both brides came out, each looking beautiful in their own way.  
Connor felt a part of him melt when they reached the end of the aisle and finally removed each other’s veils. Their eyes were bright and merry and Connor felt himself engulfed by the love that they were giving off. The ceremony was quick and wonderful and cheery and Connor felt himself looking at Jude when they began to recite their vows, and to his surprise, Jude was looking right back at him. The two smiled at each other, tears threatening to fall in both of their eyes, as their best friends got married right in front of them.  
And some people say there aren’t perfect moments.  
-!-!-!-!-!-  
“Connor Stevens, I triple-dog dare you to twerk,” Daria proclaimed, a bit tipsy as she held hands with her wife.  
“Daria, what on earth makes you think that I can twerk?” Connor asked, eyes wide in mock surprise. In all honesty, Connor was ready to twerk. It helped that he, too, had a few beers in his system. Jude laughed beside them.  
“It is my wedding day, you have to do what I say.”  
At that moment, the song playing switched into an older, slower beat. Daria grinned like a madman as Taylor laughed. Even Jude had a smile on his face, although he was the one sober one out of the four of them.  
“All right, since you asked for it,” Connor sighed dramatically, putting his beer down on the sand. Very slowly, he leaned over and started to move his hips up and down. At the very first moment, Daria broke down into laughter. A few seconds into it, Taylor joined her, and it didn’t take very long for Jude to reach for Connor’s hands and straighten him back up, smiling lightly as he did so.  
“That was beautiful,” Jude told him. “But before you continue with that,” he said, giving a look to Daria, who was still laughing, “it’s a slow song and I want to dance with you.”  
“In that case,” Connor said, dragging Jude a bit away from the newly married couple. He wrapped his arms around the waist of Jude, and smiled as Jude’s arms wrapped around his neck. Connor leaned in for a quick kiss, and to his surprise one of Jude’s hands snaked around to cup Connor’s face, prolonging the kiss.   
Suddenly, someone coughed beside them, and Connor reluctantly pulled away. Seeing who it was, his face turned a bit red, although he tried to keep his composure.  
“I’ve got to leave now,” Adam said, staring down Jude, who had taken a few steps away from Connor. “You boys take care of yourselves, all right?”  
“Yes, sir,” Jude immediately responded. Connor bit back a smile.  
“Will do. Drive home safe, dad.”  
Adam nodded, and then left to say his goodbyes to the married couple. Jude smiled at Connor, before reaching out for his hand and tugging him closer to the beach, where they sat down right next to each other. Jude laid down on the sand, but Connor remained sitting up. He moved Jude’s head slightly so that it rested on his thigh, and he began to run his fingers through Jude’s hair.   
“The ceremony was beautiful,” Jude said, closing his eyes.  
“Mhm,” Connor hummed, agreeing.  
The two of them stayed in silence there as time flew by them. Before long, the sun had set, and if the boom box hadn’t been playing in the near distance, Connor doubted that they would’ve known that they weren’t alone together. There was something special about the moment, and all of a sudden Connor looked down at Jude and he had opened his eyes and Connor felt himself overcome by emotion.  
“I love you,” he blurted out. It hadn’t been the first time he had admitted that to Jude, but it felt more real. More fitting now than ever before.  
Jude softly smiled at him. “I love you, too.”  
Connor smiled back, and was about to lean down to kiss Jude when he heard his name being called from a distance. Except for he wasn’t hearing Connor-- he was hearing Stevens.  
Jude shifted his head off of Connor’s lap as Connor froze for a moment. Jude opened his mouth, as if to ask Connor what was happening, but by that point Connor had already recognized the voice and stood up as he watched a man come closer.  
“Hey, Coach Fletching,” Connor croaked out when his coach came into hearing distance. Jude immediately stood up after he heard what Connor said.  
“Stevens, how are you?” Fletching came closer and stopped when he was only a few feet away from the two men.  
Connor didn’t feel tipsy or happy anymore. He felt tense.  
“Good. I was just at a wedding,” he said, pointing at the set-up behind him. “What brings you to the beach?”  
“My granddaughter turned two today, and we had a little party on the beach a little bit north of here,” Fletching responded. “But I needed to stretch my legs, and I stumbled across you and…” he drifted off, looking at Jude.  
“Oh, right,” Connor said, looking between his boyfriend and his boss. “Jude, this is my coach, Coach Fletching. And Coach Fletching, this is Jude,” he said. A hiccup of a moment went by before Connor added, “my friend.”  
“Nice to meet you, Jude,” Coach Fletching said, extending his hand out to him. To his credit, Jude shook Fletching’s hand. However, his eyes were dark with rage as Jude looked at Connor, said, “I should probably get going now, it’s late,” and left.  
All Connor wanted to do was run after Jude. But Fletching was talking to him, and Connor was frozen, and his feet felt as if they were cemented to the sand.  
-!-!-!-!-!-  
Coach Fletching had gone back to his party after a few minutes, and Connor raced up the beach to the remnants of the party. Jude was nowhere in sight, and Connor’s breathing sped up, heart caught in his throat. He wanted to ask Daria or Taylor if they had seen him go, but he also didn’t want to worry them on their wedding day. So he waited until they left to go to their honeymoon in San Francisco, and then he made a mad run to his apartment.  
Jude was nowhere to be found.  
Connor called him. Then again. Then again. And Jude didn’t pick up the phone. Frustrated, Connor changed out of his sandy tuxedo and put on a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt before heading out once again, this time to Jude’s apartment. However, Connor found himself stumbling as he tried to leave his apartment, and whatever ounce of self-preservation he had inside of himself told him to wait until he wasn’t as drunk to go get Jude. Connor resigned himself to the couch, hopeful that maybe, just maybe, Jude would come over and Connor would be able to hear him better from the living area.   
Connor tried to call Jude one more time. This time, Connor didn’t immediately hang up after he heard Jude’s automated message, informing Connor that Jude wasn’t there at the moment.   
“Jude,” he said, as soon the message started. “Jude, I’m sorry. I love you so much, I love you, and I will never stop loving you, Jude, pick up the phone, please Jude I’m begging you,” and Connor was crying uncontrollably. He tried to compose himself multiple times, but he couldn’t get himself together before the message timed out and Connor couldn’t say anything else. He hung up the phone and curled himself around a pillow on the couch that smelled a bit like pancakes. Connor wasn’t sure if that made him calmer or more insane.  
For the first time in a long time, Connor couldn’t reach out to Jude. He didn’t have Daria or Taylor either. And Reggie was out picking up chicks, in hopes of finding a Jude for himself.  
It’s not worth it, Connor wanted to shout. You won’t find your own Jude, and even if you do, you’ll probably fuck it up like I fucked it up, he wanted to warn his friend.   
For the first time in a long time, Connor felt completely alone.


	15. Chapter Fifteen

Connor spent the next few days desperately trying to call Jude. Jude never picked up. Connor wanted to stay at his apartment and wallow in isolation, and that’s what he would have done, if Reggie hadn’t called him every morning and reminded him to go to practice, as the biggest game of the year was coming up quickly.  
Practice had been earlier that day, and Connor finally collapsed on his couch after closing his front door. He hugged the pillow close to him and resolved not to move until he absolutely had to. He was about thirty minutes into this mission when he heard the Spice Girls ring through the air.  
Somebody was calling his phone. But nobody called his phone after baseball practice. Unless it was…  
Connor jolted upright and ran towards his phone. He hadn’t checked the caller ID before he answered, saying a breathy, “Hello?”  
A feminine voice answered him. Connor’s heart fell before he realized it was Daria, calling him for the first time since she and Taylor had left for their honeymoon. As much as Connor wanted to hang up and go back to the couch, he willed himself to listen.  
Daria talked about San Francisco, and how she and Taylor were being sure to explore every nook and cranny that they could. Connor asked a few polite questions and Daria’s excitement and happiness was evident in the way she talked. Connor was happy for her, he truly was. But it was just hard to focus on that when he was having his own issues.  
“So what’s up with you?” Daria asked, distracting Connor from his wandering mind.  
Connor debated over whether or not he should tell her, before deciding not to. It was her honeymoon, after all.  
“Not much, nothing new,” he said, trying to maintain a solid voice.  
“How’s Jude?” she asked.  
“He’s doing good,” Connor said, words mushing together. Connor cursed how not okay his voice sounded.  
“Hmm,” Daria said. “Well, if everything is going good, can you give me an explanation as to why, when Taylor and I facetimed Jude earlier today, his face looked like death and he paled even more every time your name was mentioned?”  
Connor froze up a bit. “What do you mean?”  
“Connor, he wasn’t okay. You don’t sound okay. What’s wrong?”  
And so Connor collapsed and told her everything. He told her about their moment on the beach together, how everything seemed to fall into place, and about how Fletching came up and ruined the moment, how Connor had introduced Jude as a friend, how angry Jude had been afterwards, how Jude left and hadn’t responded to Connor at all since. Connor wasn’t sure that Daria understood every word, seeing as Connor was crying pretty heavily the entire time, but she did encourage him to go on and vent and that was exactly what Connor needed at the moment.  
When Connor was done talking, Daria asked him about his game plan.  
“Game plan?” Connor sniffed. “What do you mean?”  
“This mess is mostly on you, Connor,” she said, and Connor cringed at the truth of that. “What are you going to do to fix this?”  
“What can I do?” Connor asked. He felt hopeless.  
“I can’t decide that for you.”  
“He doesn’t even want to talk to me.”  
“Why don’t you make him?”  
“How on earth am I going to do that?”  
“I don’t know, figure it out, Connor.”  
“I’ve tried calling him, texting him, skyping him, nothing is working.”  
“Then try something else.”  
“Like what?”  
And then it hit him. The one thing he hadn’t done yet, the one thing he tried to do, that first night, but was too drunk to complete. He needed to go to Jude’s apartment. Now.  
“Daria, I’ll call you later,” he said into the phone. He would’ve hung up on her then, but he reminded himself to be polite, seeing as she was taking time out of her honeymoon to help him.  
“Go get your prince back,” she said. “I love you, and I’ll talk to you later.”  
They exchanged goodbyes before hanging up, and Connor rushed around his apartment to put on clean clothes. In record time, he was out of his apartment, locking the door behind him and running down the stairs to get out on the street. He got to Jude’s apartment building quickly. Before he could think about how Jude would react to seeing him, Connor got to Jude’s door and knocked on it, panting and bending down slightly as he did so. No baseball practice would ever compare to the work Connor had put into the run to Jude’s place.  
It took a few seconds, and Connor was doubting whether Jude was home or not, but eventually Jude opened the door. And Connor didn’t care that Jude’s face did, in fact, look like death. Connor didn’t care that he was wearing baggy sweatpants and an old tee-shirt. Connor didn’t care that there were a few Oreo crumbs near the right side of Jude’s lip. Connor cared that Jude was in front of him, looking at him. Connor cared that they were in contact for the first time in days.  
“Jude,” Connor breathed. All of a sudden he felt like crying, but he held everything back. Not now, dear god, not now.  
Jude’s lips thinned into a straight line, and Connor watched his arm move as if he was about to close the door. Quickly, Connor stuck out a foot so that Jude wouldn’t be able to shut it completely.  
“Just give me a minute,” Connor begged, before Jude could decide to slam the door into his foot anyways. “Please, Jude. I’m so sorry about what happened on Sunday. Please, Jude, give me a minute.”  
“I don’t owe you a minute,” Jude said. His voice was empty, though, and it killed Connor to hear it.   
“Please,” Connor repeated.   
It took a few moments, but finally Jude relented, stepping aside to let Connor in before he shut the door.   
Connor moved to reach out to Jude, but Jude stepped backwards away from his hand.  
“What do you want,” Jude said, more of a statement than a question.  
You, Connor felt like saying. I want you.  
Connor didn’t say that. He didn’t say anything. He couldn’t.  
Connor could tell Jude was irritated. “You come over to my house, insist on being let in, and you have nothing to say to me?”  
Connor was silent. His eyes wandered to the TV Jude had in his main room. To his surprise, a baseball game was on screen. The LA Dodgers were playing the Baltimore Orioles, with the Orioles winning 7-3, bottom of the seventh inning.  
“Are you even listening to me?” Connor could hear Jude talk, but his eyes wouldn’t move from the television. The inning was almost over, with one more strike until three outs.  
“I can’t believe this,” he heard Jude murmur. “I can’t believe you right now.”   
Connor was looking at the television, but Jude kept talking. “Do you understand why Sunday was different from all the other days? Because I felt like we had a forever, Connor. Taylor and Daria were getting married and I imagined us one day doing the same. I wondered, for the first time in my entire life, what it would be like to be married to you. But then I realized it would never happen in the first place, no matter how much we love each other. Because you’re so fucking scared, Connor Stevens. Too much of a pansy to admit that you love another guy.”  
The words settled deep in the pit of Connor’s stomach, nestling uncomfortably there. Connor couldn’t turn his eyes to Jude; his eyes clinged to the game for a source of comfort. The batter missed his next swing. The inning ended, and advertisements took over the screen. Connor wondered what in-between-inning event was happening in the stadium. For the Padres, after the seventh inning, there was the….  
Ohmygod. After seventh inning….  
Suddenly, Connor knew what to do.  
“Come to my game tomorrow,” he blurted out.  
“No,” Jude said. “Connor, you need to leave now.”  
“Only if you come to my game tomorrow,” Connor begged. His idea would only work if Jude said yes.  
But he said no again. “I don’t owe you anything, Connor.”  
“I know you don’t owe me anything,” Connor said. “But I owe you something. Come to the game tomorrow night, Jude, I’m begging you.”  
Jude looked as if he might agree, but then his mouth wavered a bit. “I don’t even have tickets, and it’s a Friday night game tomorrow. I’m not going to put effort into this, Connor, so no.”  
“I have tickets,” Connor said. “Front seat tickets.” Only better for his plan. “Jude, please come.”  
Jude’s silence lasted for what felt like forever. Connor felt himself physically shaking under all of the stress he was feeling. Finally, Jude nodded.  
“Okay,” he murmured. “Just tomorrow.”  
Connor wanted to hug Jude, but Jude’s eyes were still wary and unwelcoming. Instead, Connor settled for a nod, before moving to leave Jude’s apartment.  
“You won’t regret this,” Connor promised. “You won’t.”  
Jude looked at him for a moment, eyes as empty as his voice had been, before he shut the door. And for the first time in a long time, Connor didn’t feel hopeless. He had hope that he could get Jude back. He had a plan.  
-!-!-!-!-!-  
“Hey, Devon!” Connor called out.  
Reggie nudged Connor, but Connor ignored his friend as he jogged over to Devon, a cameraman that got footage of the crowd during the game to put up on the big screen at the stadium.  
“Stevens,” Devon said, obviously confused. Most players didn’t talk to any of the cameramen, and Connor was extremely aware of this, as he felt Reggie’s stare on his back.  
“Can I ask you to do me a huge favor?” Connor plead, voice sweet as syrup.  
Devon glanced around, obviously a bit edgy. “What favor would that be?”  
“After the bottom of the seventh inning finishes,” Connor said. “Can you keep the camera focused on the first seat of the first row of section 115?”   
That seat was where Jude would be sitting later that night. That seat would be where Jude would be sitting when Connor finally did him right.  
“I don’t know if I can do that, Stevens,” Devon responded.   
Connor was prepared for this. “Fifty bucks if you keep it on that seat for 30 seconds, making sure it’s on that big screen, no questions asked.”  
“I could lose my job for this,” Devon slowly said, looking at Connor with fake sympathy. Inside, Connor was smiling. Devon had pretty much agreed to doing it, only if given the right amount of money. Outside, Connor kept on a poker face.  
“How much do you want?” Connor asked.  
“Two hundred.”  
Connor whistled, and then looked at the ground. “Two hundred? Are you being serious right now?”  
“It’s risky for me,” Devon insisted.  
Connor pretended to think for awhile before nodding. “Deal. Two hundred dollars, you keep the camera focused on that seat for 30 seconds as soon as the inning ends.”  
“Deal,” Devon said, smiling.  
“I’ll give you the money as soon as the game ends, I promise,” Connor said, before jogging away. “And if it’s not on the big screen for the full 30 seconds, the deal’s off!”  
He saw Devon nod, and then he turned his attention away from the cameraman and back towards his team. Reggie sent him a weird look, but Connor shrugged, and the attention was turned off of him. The team got back into preparing for the big game they had that night, and Connor tried his best to push the plan out of his head until the time to do it arrived.  
-!-!-!-!-!-  
The stadium was packed. Never before had Connor seen any turnout quite like the one they got that night. Connor pushed his plan out of his head, because he knew that if he applied it to the setting he was in at the moment, the nerves would most likely make him want to die. So he focused on the game, or at least tried to.  
During the second inning, he glanced over to where Jude was supposed to be sitting. Jude wasn’t there.  
He’ll be here, Connor told himself. It’s early, he’ll get here, he told you he would.  
By the fourth inning, he still wasn’t in his seat. Connor tried to calm down his nerves.  
Jude’s still got awhile, Connor thought.   
The fifth inning started and Jude still wasn’t in the stadium. Connor was about to tell himself that yes, it was perfectly okay if he burst into tears in front of the thousands of spectators there to watch the game, when the inning ended and Connor looked at the seat to see that finally, Jude was there.  
Connor breathed a sigh of relief.  
His catching hadn’t been the best during the game, mostly due to the nerves from his plan rather than the nerves from the game itself. As the end of the seventh inning came closer and closer, Connor’s stomach twisted and tightened and did somersaults and the anticipation was almost getting to be too much. The top of the seventh inning ended, and Connor took off his catching gear and headed into the dugout.  
“You okay, man?” Reggie asked him, sensing his anxiety.  
Connor couldn’t answer; he felt that if he opened up his mouth, he would throw up. Instead, he settled for a small smile and a nod of his head. Reggie patted his back before grabbing a bat and heading out to take a few practice swings before he’d be at bat.   
There were three strikeouts in a row, and the seventh inning quickly came to a close. Connor stood up as everyone came off the field. His feet acted before his brain did, and he found himself leaving the dugout, even though everyone else on the team was getting in so that they could hear Fletching’s speech.  
“Stevens, come back here!” Connor heard Fletching call out, but Connor kept on moving.  
The big screen at the stadium had changed to the little introduction to the kiss cam, a crowd activity done after the seventh inning at each game. The music for the introduction lasted for about ten seconds, during which Connor saw Devon step out and point his camera towards Jude’s seat. Finally, the music stopped. Jude’s face appeared on screen.  
Connor kept on walking towards Jude as Jude’s face turned bright red for everyone to see. Only he was in frame, so none of his neighbors made a move on him, and Connor could sense that he was beginning to get uncomfortable.  
In a few seconds, Connor had gotten close enough to Jude that Jude noticed him. Jude’s eyes grew as he began to understand why Connor had begged him to come to the game. Connor came closer and closer and just as Jude’s mouth opened to say something, Connor leaned over the the little brick wall separating the two of them and kissed him.  
For a small moment, Jude did nothing. The stadium quieted down, and Connor swore that he couldn’t hear anything. Connor leaned back a bit, breaking the soft kiss, and whispered, “I’m sorry.” It only took a heartbeat before Jude leaned back into Connor, reuniting their lips.  
Connor could hear the stadium once again. He could hear their cheers, and Connor smiled into Jude.  
Their kiss lasted for the rest of their 30 seconds on screen, before the camera switched to other couples that Connor didn’t pay attention to. Jude was smiling, Connor was smiling, everything felt open and most of all okay.  
“Forgive me?” Connor whispered, looking into Jude’s eyes, which finally had regained the happiness they had lacked the previous day.  
Jude nodded in response before leaning over to kiss Connor again. This time, there were no cameras, and although they were in a public place, it felt like a private moment. But the weight was lifted off of Connor’s shoulders, and Connor realized that, as of now, their relationship had endless possibilities. They could hold hands in public, they could kiss in public, they could even marry each other one day if they wanted to. None of that, however, seemed important as Connor realized what he could do now.  
Now, he could be with Jude without worrying about anyone else. He could give Jude all that he had to offer, and Jude could give the same to Connor. Their relationship had no more filter or boundary.   
The future seemed exciting, indeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading this story, feel free to leave comments and let me know what you thought of it. If you want to talk to me on tumblr, feel free to do so, my blog name is muncaster. Thanks again!


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